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Japanese whalers stand firm as controversy grows
Tokyo (AFP) June 22, 2008 As controversy grows over Japan's whaling, the small coastal towns with a history of the hunt are sticking to their guns, fearing that their way of life is under threat. Japan is expected to stand firm at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission opening Monday on plans to catch some 1,000 whales a year, and to push for a resumption of full-fledged commercial whaling. But Tokyo has faced growing pressure from some of its closest allies, particularly Australia, and even inside Japan, support for the government position appears to be waning. In Taiji, a town on Japan's southwestern coast that has been whaling for 400 years, whale meat is popular in markets or in restaurants, served as fresh slices of sashimi. For Miyato Sugimori, an official at Taiji's fisheries cooperative, international criticism of whaling is emotional and not rooted in science. "Western television footage sometimes shows the exact moment that we catch a whale when the sea turns red with blood," said Sugimori, 57. "But they kill cattle and pigs inside a building to eat them and don't show the scene of their slaughter. That's unfair," he said. "We're not saying we want to hunt whales to extinction. On the contrary, we want to keep the number of whales to a level that enables us to keep whaling in a sustainable manner," Sugimori said. But his stance is not shared across Japan. Interest is declining in Abashiri, a northern town that started whaling in 1918, inspired partly by US ships that collected whale oil in the sea close to Japan. "Whale meat is becoming a rare dish for people here, especially younger ones," said Keiichi Kikuchi, 75, a former high school teacher and historian on the local whaling culture. "Only whalers are keen on increasing the number of whales caught, not ordinary people," he said. The Japanese government allows Abashiri each year to catch eight bottlenose whales, which do not come under the purview of the IWC. The IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 but its rules permit killing the giant mammals for scientific research. The only nations to brazenly defy the IWC ban on commercial whaling are Norway and Iceland. Australia and New Zealand have threatened international court proceedings to stop Japan's Antarctic expeditions, which are routinely harassed by militant environmentalists. Japan, accusing Western nations of cultural insensitivity, has lobbied for whaling among developing countries which have joined the IWC. Whaling is concentrated in Taiji and three other small towns, although observers say that Japan's position is based largely on protecting the broader fishing industry, a powerful force in the country. Geishoku Labo, a government-backed wholesaler of whale meat, has been forced to offer cut-rate prices to get rid of its stocks. Schools have tried to persuade children to eat whale by serving it in burgers, curry or other fusion dishes. "There's a big difference between coastal whaling towns and the rest of Japan in consumption of whale meat, and so we've been trying to offer whale dishes to as many people as possible," said Geishoku Labo's president, Hiroshi Nakada. A recent survey by the Nikkei business newspaper said that while most Japanese wanted to eat more whale meat, only one in four liked it, with the figure dwindling to 12 percent among people in their 20s. "It's obvious there's no place for whaling in today's world," said Wakao Hanaoka, a campaigner for environmental group Greenpeace. "Japan, as a member of the IWC, should use the equipment and infrastructure already in place to contribute to international non-lethal research," he said. But Japanese officials refuse to give up on seeking commercial whaling. "We can never accept the argument that we can conserve marine resources including whales and fish without using them," said Ryotaro Suzuki, chief of the fisheries division of the foreign ministry. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Hunted, rammed, poisoned, whales may die from heartbreak too
Paris (AFP) June 22, 2008More than two decades after the start of a leaky moratorium on whale hunting, the most majestic of sea mammals have made little headway in recovering their once robust populations, say experts. |
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