Whalers give into reality and slash this year's quota
It's like waiting for a bus - you wait for ages, and three come along at once. First we had the deflagging of the Oriental Bluebird. Then we had the announced closure of the flagship whale meat shop, Yushin, in Tokyo. Now today, according to the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's whaling industry it slashing the quota for this year's Southern Ocean hunt by 20% - the first reduction since 1987.
The Asahi said that lack of demand for whale meat, pressure from protests at sea by environmental organisations, and continued pressure from the likes of Europe and Australia were all contributing to the dropping of the quota from 945 minke whales to 750. However, the planned quota of 50 endangered fin whales stays the same.
Interestingly, later in the day, several media, including the The Australian and the International Herald Tribune, reported that some officials were denying the claims made in the Asahi Shimbun. According to Peter Alford in The Australian an official (who declined to be named) from Kyodo Senpaku were quoted as saying "That's impossible to believe".
Something funny is going on here, and it's not the first time - back in May, when we launched the whale meat scandal, the whaling fleet operator Kydo Senpaku, the Institute of Cetacean Research, and the Fisheries Agency of Japan were all contradicting each other, and sometimes themselves!
It would be very surprising if there was no truth to the story of the quota reduction. After all, it's worth remembering that last season, the whalers came back with only 551 minke whales and no fin whales, despite having aimed for a quota of 935 minkes and 50 fins. It could be very easy for them to publicly claim they want to kill more than 1,000 whales, then attempt to quietly come home with far less. The bottom line here of course, is a commercial one - if they're not shifting the whale meat in the stores and restaurants (there's 4,200 tonnes of the stuff in cold storage) then there's no reason to bring back more than they need. Which just goes to show what we knew along - that the rationale behind Japan's whaling programme is rooted in commercialism, and not scientific "research".
Reports: Japanese government gives in, slashes whale quotas »
Asahi Shimbun: Japan to reduce whaling target »
Photo: © Greenpeace / Kate Davison
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