There has not been much news about the Japanese whale hunt in Antarctica this year lately. Though they did not reach their desired quota, they still managed to kill 551 minke whales. This was all for "research"

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Japan's Whalers Return From Disrupted Antarctic Hunt (Update1)

By Stuart Biggs

April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's whaling fleet returned home today after a five-month expedition to the seas near Antarctica that was punctuated by clashes with environmental groups, causing the whalers to fall short of their target catch.

The whalers, which were hunting in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary under a research permit issued by the Japanese government, killed 551 minke whales out of a planned catch of as many as 935, Japan's Fisheries Agency said in a statement on its Web site. Australia, which claims sovereignty over the sanctuary, says Japan's whaling is illegal.

The whalers stopped hunting several times as they clashed with environmentalists, including a standoff involving the Australian coastguard after activists boarded a Japanese ship. The shortfall, the second in two years, may mean the government has to provide more funds to the whaling program because it usually uses sales of meat to defray costs.

``This blatantly commercial whale hunt must end immediately,'' Greenpeace Japan whales campaigner Junichi Sato said in a statement. The latest catch ``is still over a hundred more than Japan took three years ago, in what is an internationally recognized whale sanctuary.''

No fin whales were killed even though there was a plan to harpoon 50, the Japanese agency said. Japan abandoned plans to kill 50 humpback whales after pressure from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Killing Whales

Japan's whalers killed 505 minke and 3 fin whales on last year's expedition, which was cut short by a fire on the Nisshin Maru factory ship in which one seaman died.

The Nisshin Maru, which has a crew of 143 and processes whale meat caught on the expeditions, arrived in Tokyo port at about 7:30 a.m. today. The whale meat, called ``research byproduct,'' will be sold in supermarkets and restaurants throughout the country.

Japan's cetacean research program, which is designed to prove the whale numbers have revived sufficiently to allow commercial whaling, has been criticized by governments from Australia to the European Union.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in November last year said Japan's research is a ``deception.''

Two members of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an environmentalist group, boarded the Yushin Maru No. 2 support ship in January and planted tracking devices on the boat.

Tense Standoff

That led to tense standoff involving an Australian coast guard ship sent to monitor the whalers. It ended when the Japanese transferred the environmentalists to the Australians.

The whalers were involved in other skirmishes with Sea Shepherd activists who threw rotten butter onto the decks of the Japanese ships to make them slippery.

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson at one point claimed he was shot in his bullet-proof vest by the whalers, a claim the Japanese denied.

The Australian Federal Police is investigating the incidents involving the Sea Shepherd in cooperation with Japanese authorities, Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Environment Minister Peter Garrett said in a statement today. They also called for an end to Japan's whaling near Antarctica.

``It remains Australia's firm view that there is no scientific justification for Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean,'' the statement said.

Greenpeace also disrupted the hunt by tracking the fleet until it temporarily left the Southern Ocean. It also launched speedboats to try to disrupt refueling operations.

Australia dispatched the customs vessel to monitor the whalers in preparation for possible international legal action, and released photographs of what it said were a minke mother and calf being dragged onto a whaling ship. Japan said the pictures were ``emotional propaganda'' that may damage ties.

Research whaling is allowed under the terms of a global moratorium on commercial hunts imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Japan's fish agency said last week it also plans to hunt 60 minke whales off Japan's northern coast between April 14 and the end of May this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at [Email]sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.[/Email]

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