Quote:

---

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) in Tokyo, which carries out Japan’s whale research program in the Antarctic and western North Pacific, says a report today by the ABC in Australia is seriously lacking in its analysis.

The report says Australian scientists have found methods by which they are able to extract, through DNA analysis of “flakes of skin” shed by humpback whales when they breach, the same information obtained by Japanese research. The Australian scientists say they can identify particular whales’ parents through DNA research, relationships with other whales, and an “approximate” age.

The Australian scientist, Dr Peter Harrison, even proffers a personal opinion that: “It's much better to have an approximate age of a living whale than a more exact age of a dead whale.”

“Actually, it’s not better,” the director general of the ICR, Mr Minoru Morimoto, said today. “To ensure that a commercial management regime is robust and sustainable it is of the utmost importance that the best scientific data is obtained and that does not mean just a loose gathering of skin flakes and photographs.”

“A first step to managing interactions between human activity and whale species is to gain accurate scientific knowledge about these species. Japan’s research is a long-term scientific program that is obtaining biological and ecosystem information required for proper management.

“This requires consistent research over a long period and information being obtained through lethal research. Mortality, birthing rates and accurate age determination, important for whale management, cannot be done through DNA analysis of random skin flakes,” Mr Morimoto said.

“There is general scientific agreement that the telomere analysis being used by Dr Harrison is very preliminary at this stage and that it does not provide the accurate age determinations required for population modelling studies,” he added.

The number of whales taken in Japan’s research program is far below the potential biological removal (an estimate of the maximum number of animals that can be removed from a population – not including natural mortalities – while still allowing that stock to maintain its optimum sustainable value) for the species.

“Japan’s research makes a valuable contribution to the management of Antarctic whale species to ensure that any future commercial whaling regime is robust and sustainable to provide a reliable food source for generations to come ,” Mr Morimoto said.

---

One side sees whales as unique intelligent animals with much value as a potential source of knowledge about the world they (and we) live in. The other sees the research as a means to market them as a food source.

The end result of Japanese "scientific whaling" for whales:




Sources: www.japanfocus.org & http://news.bbc.co.uk

Quote:

---

is preparing to send the navy and air force to monitor Japanese whalers about to enter Australian waters.

---

Quote:

---

Evidence gathered is expected to be used in a legal fight with Japan's Government

---

Quote:

---

The fleet is scheduled to set sail from Shimonoseki port in southwestern Japan for the Antarctic, where it aims to catch more than 1,000 whales before returning to port early next year, the environmental group Greenpeace said.

Among these are some 50 fin whales, which environmentalists say are endangered, and 50 humpbacks , which are favourites of whale-watchers for their distinctive silhouettes and acrobatic leaps from the water.

The remainder of the catch will consist of minke whales, which Japan says are now abundant enough to take.

---

Quote:

---

Japanese Whalers holding two Sea Shepherd crew members hostage on whaling ship

ABOARD THE STEVE IRWIN – 15 January 2008 -- 0700 GMT

The captain of the Yushin Maru No. 2 is holding two Sea Shepherd crew hostage.

Australian citizen Benjamin Potts and British citizen Giles Lane have been tied to the radar mast of the harpoon vessel.

The Captain has refused Captain Paul Watson's demand for the release of the crew.

The two crew members boarded the whaler with a message to inform them that they were illegally killing whales in the Southern Whale Sanctuary.

Sea Shepherd is demanding that Australia and Great Britain demand an immediate release of these two crew-members.

---

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"

Quote:

---

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]

---