As the Japanese whaling fleet returned to port over the weekend, environmentalists declared that the killing of 25 endangered whales was unsustainable and untenable.
The Japanese whaling fleet, including the aging factory ship Nisshin Maru and the smaller whaling ship Yushin Maru No. 3, departed in June and returned to its home port in Shimonoseki on Sunday with the aim of catching 25 whales-the third largest on earth Whale.
Patrick Ramage, senior director of outreach and project cooperation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said: “Whaling on the high seas is an illegal economic and scientific loser, and Japan has a good reason to withdraw. Killing in its domestic waters The sei whale that is on the verge of extinction is untenable.”
Unlawful
Since 2019, Japan has only fished minke whales, sei and Bryde’s whales in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). After stopping its “scientific” whaling in Antarctica and the high seas that has been condemned internationally for many years, Japan has avoided legal challenges. In the Antarctic whaling case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a severe judgment.
The Japanese archipelago consists of more than 6,850 islands and is one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world. It extends from the coast of Japan to nearly 1,000 nautical miles and covers an area of more than 1.7 million square miles. Normally, the exclusive economic zone of a country does not exceed 200 nautical miles from its coast, so this provides Japan with a larger commercial whaling area.
There is no substantial difference between the 2021 whaling quota set by the Japan Fisheries Agency (JFA) and the 2020 whaling quota, including the factory fleet quota for 25 sei whales and 150 Brinell whales (37 reserved) and the coastal whaling quota of 120 small whales. Baleen whales (14 in reserve).
Since the global moratorium on whaling in 1986, by 2019, Japan has killed more than 17,600 whales under special permits. In recent years, this includes approximately 333 minke whales in the Antarctic and 90 to 135 sei whales in the North Pacific each year.
Unsustainable
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that Japan’s whaling in the Southern Ocean did not meet the criteria for scientific whaling and was illegal under international law and must be terminated.
The whaling fleet is now targeting sei whale populations on the west coast, which, according to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee, are the most lacking in the North Pacific sei whale population. During decades of industrial-scale whaling, more than 24,000 catches were captured from the area, of which only about 400.
For this reason, IFAW believes that Japan’s killing of these whales is irresponsible and unsustainable, and calls on the Japanese government to stop whaling forever and shelve plans to build new factory ships to replace Nisshin Maru.
Meat
“The Japanese government is a pioneer in international marine conservation efforts. Putting dying industries into life support, killing more whales and replacing sinking ships is not a step in the right direction,” Ramach Added.
According to local media reports, the whaling fleet will hold a promotional event for returning whale meat in Shimonoseki on Sunday.
Whaling company Kyodo Senpaku is expected to auction raw whale meat at a fish market in the city in two days. In order to increase the consumption of whale meat, the elementary school plans to organize activities such as barbecues and food education courses.
This author
Ruby Harbour is the editorial assistant EcologistThis article is based on a press release from the International Foundation for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a global non-profit organization that helps animals and humans prosper together.
