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Japanese PM Defends Whaling, Protesters Still Held
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Protesters who boarded a Japanese fishing vessel near Antarctica are still in detention. In a unusual move for a Japanese politician, Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda defended whaling.
30-Second Summary
Every winter, Japan sends boats out to capture whales for what the government alleges are research purposes.
The whaling vessels usually fish in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. But such activities have been condemned in the West.
The prime minister's comments in parliament were a response to a recent development when two protesters boarded a Japanese whaling vessel, on Jan. 15. The government accused their group, Sea Shepherd, of an "act of piracy," according to Time.
No whaling is going on while the activists remain on board. Japanese officials accused Sea Shepherd of trying to damage the boats' propellers, and throwing bottles of acid at them. Sea Shepherd denied this, and accused the crews of assaulting the activists and holding the protesters hostage. Japan ridiculed those charges.
An Australian court last week ruled that the Japanese expeditions violate Australia's Environmental Protection Act. However, Japan is one of a number of countries that refuses to recognize Australia's jurisdiction over the Southern Ocean.
Critics describe Japan’s annual research as a thinly disguised commercial whaling industry.
Conversely, some Japanese see the environmentalists as arrogant Westerners trying to assert their own cultural values abroad.
Other Japanese fishing practices have drawn criticism, as well. Last fall, a small group of protesters tried to protect dolphins from fishermen off the coast of Japan. The fishermen trapped the protesters and used a boat hook to get them away.
Many countries throughout history, including the United States, hunted whales, though most have discontinued the practice. However, Japan isn’t the only country that still does. Iceland, in 2006, decided to resume commercial whaling after years of hunting whales for research. Norway is another whaling nation.
The whaling vessels usually fish in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. But such activities have been condemned in the West.
The prime minister's comments in parliament were a response to a recent development when two protesters boarded a Japanese whaling vessel, on Jan. 15. The government accused their group, Sea Shepherd, of an "act of piracy," according to Time.
No whaling is going on while the activists remain on board. Japanese officials accused Sea Shepherd of trying to damage the boats' propellers, and throwing bottles of acid at them. Sea Shepherd denied this, and accused the crews of assaulting the activists and holding the protesters hostage. Japan ridiculed those charges.
An Australian court last week ruled that the Japanese expeditions violate Australia's Environmental Protection Act. However, Japan is one of a number of countries that refuses to recognize Australia's jurisdiction over the Southern Ocean.
Critics describe Japan’s annual research as a thinly disguised commercial whaling industry.
Conversely, some Japanese see the environmentalists as arrogant Westerners trying to assert their own cultural values abroad.
Other Japanese fishing practices have drawn criticism, as well. Last fall, a small group of protesters tried to protect dolphins from fishermen off the coast of Japan. The fishermen trapped the protesters and used a boat hook to get them away.
Many countries throughout history, including the United States, hunted whales, though most have discontinued the practice. However, Japan isn’t the only country that still does. Iceland, in 2006, decided to resume commercial whaling after years of hunting whales for research. Norway is another whaling nation.
Headline Links: ‘Protesters Crash Whale Hunt in Japan’
Anti-whaling contingents continue to harass Japanese ships fishing in the Antarctic, according to Time magazine. In the most recent incident, two activists boarded a whaling boat. Sea Shepherd, a group opposed to whaling, said the activists are being held hostage. Japanese officials said the act was “piracy” and accused the group of delaying their retrieval of the activists. “These people aren't hostages, they're unwanted guests,” said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a spokesman for Japan’s foreign ministry. “We want them off our ship immediately, but they’re not giving us the chance.” Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Japanese group that coordinates the hunt, told Time: “It is completely illegal to board anyone's vessel ... on the high seas. So this can be seen as nothing more than an act of piracy by the Sea Shepherd group.”
Source: Time magazine
Australia’s Federal Court has ruled that a Japanese whaling fleet has broken different parts of the country’s Environmental Protection Act and ordered the fleet “be restrained from continued whaling.” But many countries, including Japan, don’t recognize Australia’s jurisdiction in that part of the Antarctic. Some Australian officials, though, believe the court’s decision is a good step toward stopping hunting in the Southern Ocean. Senator Kerry Nettle told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “This now paves the way for the new Government to commence international legal action, it helps to strengthen the case for taking legal action.”
Source: Australia Broadcasting Corporation
In December 2007, the Japanese government decided not to hunt humpback whales near Antarctica, something Australians were opposed to. Japan whaling fleets hadn’t caught humpback whales for about 40 years, after a moratorium was introduced. The hunt’s plans still include harpooning 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales. Japan says the hunt is part of an annual research mission, but critics have called it “ill-disguised commercial whaling.” Japanese officials acknowledged Australian sentiment in announcing their decision. “It is true that Australia expressed quite a strong opinion to Japan on this,” said Nobutaka Machimura, a government spokesman, according to The Japan News.net. “As a result, I hope this will lead to better relations with Australia.”
Source: Japan News Net
Reactions: ‘Japan PM Defends “Scientific” Whaling’
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda addressed his parliament, the Diet, to defend the whaling that he says his country conducts for scientific purposes on Jan. 24. Greenpeace said that it was very unusual for a Japanese official to voice an opinion on whaling.
Source: The Age
Reference Material: Japanese Public Support for Whaling
Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) criticized an online poll conducted in 2006, which was sponsored by Yahoo. While Greenpeace says the results show the Japanese public doesn’t support whaling, ICR says the poll shows the opposite. Another poll, conducted in 2001 by the Japanese government, said nearly 75 percent of respondents supported sustainable whaling, while nearly 10 percent disagreed. The ICR also criticized a Greenpeace-commissioned poll conducted in summer 2006, saying that it showed 35 percent of people agreed with sustainable whaling, while nearly 40 percent didn’t have an opinion. “For Greenpeace to claim that so many people in Japan are against sustainable whaling is blatantly wrong by their own data and media manipulation at its worst. Their campaign in the Antarctic is a calculated strategic marketing campaign aimed at boosting their own coffers,” Hiroshi Hatanaka, the ICR’s director general, said in the release.
Source: e-Wire, Institute for Cetacean Research
On his blog, What Japan Thinks, Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson, a Scottish engineer living in Japan, analyzes the Yahoo poll figures that the ICR criticized. Yasumoto-Nicolson points out the Yahoo poll was actually about whether Iceland should resume commercial whaling, and says online polls can’t always control the number of responses an individual submits. Yasumoto-Nicolson is a vegetarian, but says that, concerns about mercury aside, he doesn’t see sustainable whaling as any worse a practice than cattle farming.
Source: What Japan Thinks
Related: Hollywood takes on Japanese fishing; other whaling nations
Late last year, a group tried unsuccessfully to stop fishermen from hunting a pod of dolphins, an encounter that was recorded by protesters and widely broadcast. As the group, which includes “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere, swims out on surfboards to protect the dolphins, a fishing boat blocks their way. One of the people on board uses a hook to try to break up the group.
Source: You Tube, ITN
Iceland, after years of only hunting whales for research, in 2006 decided to resume commercial whaling, and issue permits to hunt 30 minke whales and nine fin whales in about a year period. The country stopped whaling, an ancient practice there, in 1989 after an international moratorium was passed. Whaling is part of the country’s principle of using marine life in a sustainable manner, Asta Einsardottir, a lawyer for the country’s Ministry of Fisheries, told the Associated Press. “Fisheries have been our bread and butter. From fisheries, we have gained what the Icelandic nation has today. We must protect and work for this principle, not against it,” she said.
Source: MSNBC, Associated Press
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