Japan whaling fleet may cut annual hunt short this year (Roundup)

Feb 16, 2011, 10:50 GMT

Tokyo - Japan's controversial whaling fleet may quit its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean early this year due to increased interference from an anti-whaling group, a government official said Wednesday.

Japan is considering cutting short the season to let the fleet return home as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society intensified obstruction, fisheries agency official Toshinori Uoya said in confirming media reports. He declined to give details.

'Nothing has been decided. We are currently studying the situation,' Uoya said.

The Jiji Press earlier reported that Tokyo was mulling pulling back the fleet although the hunt usually lasts until March.

The fleet had suffered interference from the activist group nine times since the start of this year, Uoya said.

Yukio Edano, chief secretary of the Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet, told a news conference that the fleet had been suspended.

'Research whaling by the Nisshin Maru has been suspended to ensure the safety of the whaling fleet since they have been chased by Sea Shepherd vessels since February 10,' Edano said.

Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson told Kyodo News agency that their strategy was the major reason for the suspension.

Watson said all whaling activity by the Japanese was suspended February 9, with the fleet now '2,000 miles east of the whaling area' and entering Chilean waters in the Atlantic Ocean near South America.

'I think that, effectively, we shut down their operations for the season. They know they are not going to kill any more whales,' Watson told Kyodo, adding the group was still going after the Nisshin Maru.

'We have chased them, chased them, disrupted them. They haven't had a chance to kill many whales,' he said. 'I don't think they've killed more than 30.'

The fleet was expected to catch about 1,000 whales this season, but could fall far short of the goal, Jiji reported, adding only 507 whales were captured in the previous season amid the group's protests.

But some activists said the fleet would come home early because of domestic problems in Japan rather than harassment by Sea Shepherd. The whaling fleet left for the season's hunt in early December, one month later than usual, and with fewer ships than usual, the environmental group Greenpeace Japan said. The delay was attributed to the lack of demand for whale meat.

Most Japanese do not eat whale meat regularly, leading to the accumulation of a huge stockpile. Government data showed there were 5,790 tons of whale meat in cold storage as of the end of August, the largest number since April 2006.

Japan halted commercial whaling in 1987, complying with an international moratorium which went into effect in 1986. But the nation has used a loophole in the agreement to continue whaling under the premise of conducting scientific research. Critics accuse Japan of doing it for money.

About 35,000 whales have been hunted down since the moratorium was imposed, environmentalists estimated.

Read more about Japan Nature