Whaling in Japan: Encyclopedia - Whaling in Japan

Whaling in Japan

Japan catches hundreds of whales every year, mainly from the South Pacific population of Minke Whales. The purpose of this killing is hotly, and perhaps irreconcilably, disputed by the pro- and anti- whaling lobbies. Currently, the Japanese Government and those who manage its whaling activities, say the whaling is for scientific research. Those opposed to Japanese whaling, such as the governments of Australia, the United States and other western countries, say the whaling is a thinly-disguised way of carrying out commercial whaling.

Japan is open about its belief that a commercial hunt of Minke Whales, and potentially other species, would be sustainable. Japan's desire to restart its commercial whaling is evidenced by its annual petition to the International Whaling Commission requesting that a quota for a commercial Minke Whale hunt be given. Although the IWC General Committee is split roughly 50-50 on whether commercial whaling should recommence, the petition has not yet come close to passing because substantial change to the moratorium requires a 75% majority under IWC rules.

In the meantime, Japan continues to hunt hundreds of whales each year on its own scientific research grounds. Japanese people who are familiar with the subject appear to consider such tactics to be a justified response to the perceived dysfunctional nature of the IWC.

A major dividing issue in the implementation of the moratorium was the reliability of existing data on the whale population. Critics argued that the existing data was inappropriate for estimating population dynamics, as they are derived mostly from commercial sources which are unrepresentative in terms of age, sex and distribution. This criticism in turn provided a rationale for Japan to push for whaling for scientific purposes. Those on the opposite side of the argument pointed out that the scientific catch used the same boats, crew and equipment in the same area of the Pacific Ocean as the commercial hunt carried out prior to the moratorium. Japan says that its scientific research seeks to provide answers to questions about the whales' population, age composition, sex ratio, and natural mortality rate in order to ascertain whether a commercial catch would be sustainable.

The research is conducted under the auspices of the Institute of Cetacean Research, a privately-owned, non-profit institution. The institute receives its funding from whaling company Kyodo Senpaku and from government subsidies. Kyodo Senpaku was formed in 1987 (formerly Kyodo Hogei, since 1976) and is a consolidation of earlier whaling departments of Japanese fisheries. Kyodo Senpaku is a for-profit company that conducts the collection, processing and selling wholesale of the whale specimens on behalf of the research institute. It sells roughly US$60 million worth of whale products each year. It is a requirement of IWC membership to sell any meat taken from research catches.

Japan carries out its research in two areas - a North Pacific catch and a Southern Hemisphere catch. In 2002, the latest year for which figures are available, Japanese whalers caught 5 Sperm, 39 Sei, 50 Bryde's and 150 Minke Whales in the northern catch area and 440 Minke Whales in the southern catchment area. This catch of 684 whales is about the same size as Norway's commercial catch, and slightly larger than all aboriginal whaling catches combined. Neither the International Whaling Commission nor its scientific committee have requested any research by the institute, and both have repeatedly criticized Japanese whaling, and called for it to cease.

In July 2004 it was reported (see [1]) that a working group of the Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic had drawn up plans to leave the IWC in order to join a new pro-whaling organization, NAMMCO, because of the IWC's refusal to back the principle of sustainable commercial whaling. Japan is particularly opposed to the IWC's conservative committee, introduced in 2003, which it says exists solely to prevent any whaling. It should be noted that any adherence to IWC rulings by Japan is completely voluntary: the IWC's rulings do not carry the weight of international law.

The 2005 Antarctic whaling season began on 7th November 2005 ([2]).

Whaling in Japan - History

The oldest written mention of whaling in Japanese records is from Kojiki, the oldest known Japanese historical book. It dates back to 712. Since then, whaling has been frequently mentioned in Japanese historical sources. Whales have long been a source of food, oil, and material. A famous saying goes: "There's nothing to throw away from a whale except its voice."

In 1852, a US naval officer Matthew Perry forced open Japan's doors to the world. One of the purposes was to obtain a base for whaling in north-west Pacific Ocean.

Following the devastation of World War II, food was scarce, so whales, being a cheap source of protein, became a staple in the Japanese post-war diet.

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling, though some countries, notably Japan, Norway, and Iceland, continued limited whaling in the name of scientific research. Subsequently, small amounts of whale meat continue to make their way to the dinner plates of thousands of Japanese.

Whaling in Japan - Japanese whaling since the suspension of commercial whaling

Whaling in Japan - Whales taken by Japan while not bound by IWC suspension

Whaling in Japan - Whales taken under Special Permit scientific whaling

See also

• Whaling
  • History of Whaling
  • Aboriginal whaling
• Fishery
• Whale watching
• Cuisine of Japan
• Culture of Japan
• Convention of Kanagawa
• International Whaling Commission

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Whaling in Japan", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki