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| Down Under |
| Japan vows to continue hunt |
| 2005-05-24 |
| JAPAN will not yield to foreign pressure seeking to stop it from whaling, a fisheries official said today after Australia stepped up a campaign against the annual Japanese hunt in the name of scientific research. Australian Prime Minister John Howard took the unusual step of intervening personally, writing to his counterpart Junichiro Koizumi to urge Japan to scrap reported plans to increase the hunted species to those considered endangered. But the Fisheries Agency, without commenting on plans to kill more whales near Australian waters, said Japan would continue its whaling, which it argued was done for scientific research. "Our position on research whaling will not change just because of foreign pressure," Takanori Nagatomo, deputy director at the Far Seas Fisheries Division of the agency, said. "We have been engaging in research whaling to collect scientific data so we can resume commercial whaling." Japan says lethal research is necessary to produce accurate data on whales' ages, eating habits and other details, and to prove its view that whale species such as minkes are thriving and consuming valuable fish stock. The agency had not been pressured by Mr Koizumi's office or the foreign ministry, Mr Nagatomo said. "Whaling is also part of the Japanese culture," he said. In his letter to Mr Koizumi, Mr Howard challenged the Japanese claim that it had to expand its whale kill for research purposes. "Given that non-lethal methods exist for scientific research, Australia believes that there is no basis for killing whales," Mr Howard wrote in the two-page letter, excerpts of which were published in The Daily Telegraph today. Mr Howard, who recently agreed to dispatch 450 troops to guard Japanese army engineers in southern Iraq despite domestic opposition to the move, and who visited Tokyo last month, said relations between the two countries had never been closer but "good friends should always feel free to disagree". Japan, where whale meat is part of the traditional cuisine, reluctantly accepted a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). But it resumed catches in 1987 using a loophole that allows "research whaling" and selling the meat on the market, a practice condemned by environmentalists as commercial whaling in disguise. Tokyo reportedly will tell the IWC at a meeting starting this month in South Korea that it intends to nearly double its annual catch of minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean, currently set at 440. It also aims to catch the larger humpback and fin whales which are considered endangered by the World Conservation Union, reports said. The IWC meeting coincides with the start of Australia's whale-watching season, when hundreds of humpbacks swim up the east coast seeking warmer waters during the southern winter. Mr Howard noted in his letter that 1.6 million tourists flocked to Australian shores each year to watch the whale migration. "This is clear evidence of the extent of public interest in the continued health and welfare of whales and considerable public concern could be expected, not only in Australia, but across the globe, were whaling to increase," he wrote. Environment Minister Ian Campbell said Mr Howard's strongly worded letter underscored Australia's determination to fight Japan's whaling plan. "The sort of efforts that the Prime Minister has put in and the efforts I've been putting in over many months will continue over the next few weeks, and we won't stop until we achieve success," Mr Campbell said on ABC radio. "What the Prime Minister has demonstrated is that we are prepared to raise this at levels that it's never been raised before. "We're working internationally, we're working bilaterally, we're very, very keen to see firstly, no reopening of commercial whaling, and very importantly, no scientific whaling in the future," he said. |
| Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042 |
| #16 get em shark hunters to wile yoor at it spod |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-24 19:17 |
| #15 I'm thinking breathing is an aphrodisiac, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-24 19:17 |
| #14 Don't tell me. It's an aphrodesiac in Japan, right? If it's not, it's an aphrodesiac someplace near Japan? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-24 19:00 |
| #13 Any lines on surplus functional sub for sale? Screw green peace. A Captian Nemo can clear up this totally unnecessary hunting of Whales in a very simple way. Whalers might not like being sunk on sight in international waters which should be their fate. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-05-24 18:50 |
| #12 mmmm tuna-free dolphin |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-24 17:16 |
| #11 Whales...why do they hate us? Oh, that's why. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-05-24 17:06 |
| #10 I have heard whale is available in Japanese sushi bars... Tacky. Leave it so something that is not so scarce. Salmon or Tuna... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-05-24 16:20 |
| #9 whoa mucki! ima just woke up with a pop sickle stick wedge in me teeths. |
| Posted by: half 2005-05-24 13:24 |
| #8 Why do the Japanese rape us? |
| Posted by: Swiss Cheese 2005-05-24 13:18 |
| #7 goddam cheeze rapist What did the Swiss ever do to the Japanese? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-05-24 13:03 |
| #6 Sinking Japanese whale boats for research. |
| Posted by: flipper flukes 2005-05-24 13:01 |
| #5 yoo goddam cheeze rapist! I don't believe I have ever heard that particular slur before. Kinda like it tho! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-05-24 12:54 |
| #4 heer nagatomo. stair at this fur em wile. parta japaneese culcher: http://www.seizurerobots.com/ |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-24 12:09 |
| #3 Mucky, u iz sprowtn fre n brmston ths wk! RRRR! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-05-24 12:06 |
| #2 What Muck said!! I think. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-05-24 12:00 |
| #1 "Whaling is also part of the Japanese culture," he said. an kicken yore ass in parta mine culcher yoo goddam cheeze rapist! |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-24 11:30 |