Whaling in Japan

Japan has a long history of whaling. However, current whaling conducted by Japan is a source of political dispute between pro-whaling countries and anti-whaling organisations.

History

A dish of whale meat in Japan

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 quotes: "There's nothing to throw away from a whale except its voice."

In 1853, 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 the north-west Pacific Ocean.

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

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. While Japan initially intended to oppose the moratorium, they in submission withdrew due to the threat of economic sanctions made by the United States. Japan continues whaling today under a scientific research permit.

At an IWC meeting in 2006, a resolution calling for the eventual return of commercial whaling was passed by a majority of just one vote. Environmental groups accused developing countries of siding with Japan in this vote in return for financial aid. These claims were repeatedly denied by the countries involved.[1]

Whale meat and environmental toxins

Studies with several species have shown that whale meat often contains dangerously high levels of environmental toxins such as PCB, mercury, and dioxin [2],[3]. The highest concentration of EDC's Endocrine Disrupting Compounds ever found in any animal was measured recently in the blubber of a minke whale [4], a species commonly hunted by Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters. These toxins are particularly dangerous for pregnant women and growing children, which calls into question the practice of providing whale meat lunches for school children. This is common in whaling areas [5] but it is also on the increase in parts of Japan that do not engage in whaling [6].

Japanese whaling since the suspension of commercial whaling

Whales taken by Japan while not bound by IWC suspension

Season	Sperm	Bryde's	Minke	Total
1985/86	0	0	1941	1941
1986/87	200	317	2252	2769
1987/88	188	317	304	809

Whales taken under Special Permit (scientific whaling)

Year	Sperm	Sei	Bryde's	Minke (Northern area)	Minke (Southern area)	Fin	Total
1987	0	0	0	273	0	0	273
1988	0	0	0	241	0	0	241
1989	0	0	0	330	0	0	330
1990	0	0	0	327	0	0	327
1991	0	0	0	288	0	0	288
1992	0	0	0	330	0	0	330
1993	0	0	0	330	0	0	330
1994	0	0	0	330	21	0	351
1995	0	0	0	440	100	0	540
1996	0	0	0	440	77	0	517
1997	0	0	0	438	100	0	538
1998	0	0	1	389	100	0	490
1999	0	0	0	439	100	0	539
2000	5	0	43	440	40	0	528
2001	8	1	50	440	100	0	599
2002	5	40	50	441	152	0	688
2003	10	50	50	443	101	0	704
2004	3	100	51	160	441	0	755
2005	5	100	50	222	856	10*	1243

'*' 2005 was the first year in which Japan added the endangered Fin whale to its list of whales to kill under the JARPA research program. Commencing in 2007, Japan plans to increase the number of captured fin whales to 50, and also kill up to 50 of the vulnerable Humpback whale.

Controversy

Japan kills 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 declare 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 method of carrying out subsidized commercial whaling.

The number of whales taken by Japan during each year of the moratorium under the Special Permit (Scientific whaling) regulations

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 significant change to the moratorium requires a 75% majority under IWC rules.

Japanese whalers kill hundreds of whales each year on the grounds of what is called "scientific research". In Japanese public opinion, there is little attention paid to the commercial aspect of whaling as scientific whaling is a subsidised government operation with little economic significance. Japanese media does not mirror media in anti-whaling countries as it gives almost unanimous support to the government's pro-whaling position. It is argued that the anti-whaling side is raising the bar of scientific measurement solely to filbuster the implementation Revised Management Procedure, that in turn provides justification for scientific whaling, much of which is done to answer the elements of uncertaintity cited by the anti-whaling side in objection to RMP. Another and arguably more important justification for scientific whaling is, that whaling in whatever form helps to maintain the Japanese whaling tradition, although most consider that lifting ban on the traditional whaling by Japanese coastal villages to be most desirable. In traditional whaling, it is anti commercial whaling countries which are pro traditional whaling, many voting in favour of resumption for countries such as U.S while voting against lifting of ban in Japan. Japan is expected to vote against traditional whaling on the belief that criteria of so called "subsistent" whaling favour countries who are anti (commercial) whaling but currently engage in "subsistent" whaling nonetheless.

A major dividing issue in the implementation of the moratorium was the reliability of existing data on whale populations. Critics argued that the existing data was inappropriate for estimating population dynamics, as they were 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 [7]) 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 Conservation Committee, introduced in 2003, which it says exists solely to prevent any whaling. Adherence to IWC rulings by Japan is voluntary: the IWC's rulings do not carry the weight of international law.

Japan also blames whales -- not overfishing -- for depleting fish stocks.

The 2005 Antarctic whaling season began on 7th November 2005 ([8]).The whaling fleet returned to Japan in April 2006, having taken 853 Minke Whales and 10 Fin Whale as planned, despite numerous protests from NGOs, governments and other actions by activist groups.

In April 2006, Greenpeace claimed it had successfully shut down five private whaling companies after pressuring them "from the high seas to the supermarket shelves" [9]

See also

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

External links

• International Whaling Commission Catches table
• Japan Whaling Association
• Whaling Section of Japan
• Whaling Library
• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
• Greenpeace Japan
• C. George Muller (Marine Mammal Biologist and Author)
• The Institute of Cetacean Research
• International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
• Catalyst: Whale Science