Japan postpones humpback whale hunt. Japan agreed to abandon
plans to slaughter endangered humpback whales for the next one to two years amid
calls from Australia to spare the species during a research hunt in the
Antarctic.
Nobutaka
Machimura, Japan's top government spokesman, confirmed that the
Japanese fleet, now en route to the southern ocean whale sanctuary,
would avoid killing humpbacks, a protected species since 1966.
"Japan has decided not to catch humpback whales for one year
or two, but there will be no change in our stance on research
whaling," he told reporters. "Japan's relations with Australia could
improve, but it depends on how it will see our decisionArticle
continues
Japan's original intention to kill 50 humpbacks, considered
the most majestic and athletic of all whales, drew a furious response
from Australia, where an estimated 1.5 million tourists take part in
whale-watching trips every year.
The humpback population dwindled to just 1,200 in the 1960s,
but now stands at between 30,000 and 40,000, according to the American
Cetacean Society. The species is listed as vulnerable by the World
Conservation Union.
"The Australian government welcomes the announcement by Japan
it will suspend its plan to kill humpback whales this season," a
spokesman for the foreign minister, Stephen Smith, told Reuters in
Canberra. "While this is a welcome move, the Australian government
strongly believes that there is no credible justification for the
hunting of any whales and will vigorously pursue its efforts ... to see
an end to whaling by Japan."
Earlier this week Australia's Labor prime minister, Kevin
Rudd, decided to send an armed ship and surveillance aircraft to track
the Japanese fleet ahead of a possible legal challenge to the hunt at
the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Japan's foreign minister, Masahiko Komura, conceded that it
would be difficult to bridge the emotional divide with Australia, a
close military ally and trading partner.
"Given that in a sense this seems to be a problem of
differences in national sentiment between Japanese and Australian
culture, it's not a matter that can be solved by appealing to one
another through logic," he said. "I hope to discuss possible measures
with the Australian foreign minister soon."
The whaling fleet will proceed, however, with plans to
slaughter more than 900 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales
during the current research, Japan's biggest ever.
Anti-whaling activists welcomed the volte-face but said their
campaign to end all hunting would continue. "We're obviously delighted
that this has happened," Dave Walsh, a Greenpeace spokesman, told the
Guardian from the group's ship, the Esperanza. "But we don't think
that one particular type of whale should be singled out. We'd like to
see an end to the hunt altogether. Remember, Japan is still going to
kill about 1,000 other whales this season.
"The pressure from outside has always been there, but if we
are going to succeed in canceling this and all future hunts, the
pressure needs to come from inside Japan. The writing is on the wall
for Japanese whalers, and it is time prime minister
[Yasuo] Fukuda took action."
The International Whaling Commission
[IWC] banned commercial whaling in 1986 but allows Japan to
conduct lethal research. Critics denounce the "scientific" hunts as
commercial whaling in disguise because the meat is sold to restaurants
and supermarkets, and the profits used to fund future expeditions.
Officials in Tokyo denied Japan had backed down in the face of renewed
international pressure.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the decision had been reached
earlier this month during talks in Washington between fisheries agency
officials and the US, the current chair of the IWC. "Japan is
responding to a request from the president of the IWC, who said our
cooperation is essential if the IWC is to function normally, and we
understand that," he said.
Japan and other pro-whaling nations believe that the
regulatory body has been hijacked by conservationists and lost sight of
its original purpose: how to manage sustainable whaling.
The foreign ministry said: "Japan is committed to accelerate
the process of the normalization of the IWC. Everything that was
planned as part of Japan's scientific research whaling activities,
including the capture of humpbacks, is, without exception, legal under
the IWC framework."
While Japan is ready to discuss reforms to voting and other
IWC procedures, a source close to the issue conceded that overturning
the 1986 ban, requires a two-thirds majority, would be "practically
impossible."
The Esperanza, meanwhile, is expected to arrive in the
southern ocean whaling grounds and step up its search for the whaling
fleet over the New Year.
The humpback population dwindled to just 1,200 in the 1960s,
but now stands at between 30,000 and 40,000, according to the American
Cetacean Society. The species is listed as vulnerable by the World
Conservation Union.
