The annual summer hunt by Japan鈥檚 whaling fleet for 260 whales for 鈥渟cientific purposes鈥� has begun, drawing renewed condemnation from conservationists.
The whaling vessels set out for the North Pacific on Thursday, with the whalers aiming to harpoon 150 minke whales, 50 sei whales, 50 Bryde鈥檚 whales and 10 sperm whales. They have already killed 440 minke whales in a recent hunt in the Southern Ocean sanctuary.
Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986 under the International Whaling Commission鈥檚 treaty, to which Japan is a signatory. But conservationists accuse Japan of exploiting a loophole to supply a commercial demand for whale meat, by saying it hunts the whales for scientific studies.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially commercial whaling,鈥� says Sue Fisher, of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society鈥檚 US office. She adds that Japan also kills 20,000 dolphins which are not covered by the IWC moratorium.
Fisher says the countries are expected to follow the ban 鈥渋n good faith鈥�. She says that even the IWC protested at Japan鈥檚 scientific whaling in 2003, as 鈥渁n act contrary to the spirit of the moratorium on commercial whaling and the will of the Commission鈥�. Fisher describes this statement as 鈥済roundbreaking鈥�.
鈥淭he problem is that the [IWC] resolutions aren鈥檛 binding,鈥� she told 快猫短视频. 鈥淭he expectation is you comply but there鈥檚 no sort of prosecution.鈥�
Non-lethal methods
Hiroshi Hatanaka, who heads the whale program at Japan鈥檚 Institute of Cetacean Research, defended the research. He says that where possible, data are collected by non-lethal methods, such as observation or firing arrows to pull out plugs of skin from whales for DNA sampling.
However, he told the Japan Times newspaper that the research requires the killing of whales, and that hundreds are needed to get a statistically meaningful sample.
鈥淲e study their eating habits by examining the content of their stomachs,鈥� Hatanaka says. 鈥淒etermining their age requires acquiring the tissue in their ears. You can鈥檛 get this data by merely watching a live whale.鈥�
But several other conservation groups have also attacked the hunt, including the Environmental Investigation Agency and Greenpeace.
鈥淭hough there may be some kinds of research that require killing, the Japanese researchers use this as an excuse to get what they really want, which is the whale meat,鈥� protests Junko Sakurai, Greenpeace Japan鈥檚 whaling expert.
Migrate and mix
Fisher says that certain stocks of whales are endangered by the hunting. For example, there are only 900 individuals left in the 鈥淛 stock鈥� of minke whales, which live in the North Pacific region. These are genetically separate from the more common 鈥淥 stock鈥�.
However, at certain times of the year, the J stock migrate and mix with the O stock where they are then subject to hunting, as the IWC sets scientific quotas by geographical area only.
Academic researchers are also unconvinced by Japan鈥檚 use of science as a justification for the hunt. Hal Whitehead, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, told 快猫短视频 print edition in an interview this week: 鈥淚 am a scientist, and I value my profession. 鈥楽cientific whaling鈥� is like the prostitution of the profession: using the name of science for a totally bogus purpose.鈥�