Japan's whale-butchering Nisshin-Maru factory ship
JAPANESE whaling ship Nisshin Maru returned to port today, completing the first commercial whale-hunting season sanctioned by the country in 31 years.
The whaling fleet killed 187 Bryde’s whales, 25 sei whales and 11 minke whales, three species of rorqual that average 45, 65 and 30 feet in length, returning with 1,430 tons of whale meat — a slightly lower total than from last year’s “research” hunts that conservationists long argued were a mask for commercial whaling.
Operator Kyodo Senpaku co-president Eiji Mori said: “We were worried if we could catch any, but they did a great job.”
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Taku Eto said: “It’s wonderful we had a good start. We will continue our support so that commercial whaling gets back on track.”
Commercial whaling all but wiped out most large whales in the first part of the 20th century and populations remain a fraction of their former size.
Nonetheless, Japan left the International Whaling Commission in last December, claiming that a moratorium on whaling imposed in 1986 had gone on long enough.
Commercial whaling was resumed on July 1 this year.
CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent
One of the major criticisms of China’s breakneck development in recent decades has been the impact on nature — returning after 15 years away, BEN CHACKO assessed whether the government’s recent turn to environmentalism has yielded results
For those in the West, hunger is often just the familiar feeling of a growling stomach between meals — in Gaza, it has become a strategic weapon of slow, systematic and deadly destruction, writes MARC VANDEPITTE