We first covered the issue of the Japanese return to whaling a few days ago – see our post:

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/06/30/japan-is-about-to-resume-catching-whales-for-profit-in-defiance-of-international-criticism/

 

Well now the whaling fleet has set sail:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48821797

 

Japanese whalers set sail for commercial hunting

 

Five Japanese whaling vessels have set sail for the country’s first commercial hunt in decades, in defiance of international criticism.

The whaling ships have a permit to catch 227 minke, Bryde’s and sei whales this year in Japanese waters.

Japan’s last commercial hunt was in 1986 but it has continued whaling for what it says was research purposes.

It has now withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) so is no longer subject to its rules.

IWC members had agreed to an effective ban on whale hunting, but Japan has long argued it is possible to hunt whales in a sustainable way.

 

Enthusiasm among whalers

The fisheries ministry has set a kill cap for the season of 52 minke, 150 Bryde’s and 25 sei whales.

“The resumption of commercial whaling has been an ardent wish for whalers across the country,” the head of the agency, Shigeto Hase, said at a departure ceremony in northern Kushiro for the small fleet.

He said the resumption of whaling would ensure “the culture and way of life will be passed on to the next generation.”

• Japan to resume commercial whaling despite outcry
• Could the ban on killing whales end?
• Pro-whaling nations block sanctuary plan

“My heart is overflowing with happiness, and I’m deeply moved,” Yoshifumi Kai, head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association, said. “People have hunted whales for more than 400 years in my home town.”

“I’m a bit nervous but happy that we can start whaling,” one whaler told news agency AFP before setting sail.

“I don’t think young people know how to cook and eat whale meat any more. I want more people try to taste it at least once.”

Criticism by conservationists

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, minke and Bryde’s whale are not endangered. Sei whale are classified as endangered but their numbers are increasing.

Conservationist groups like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd remain critical of Japan’s resumption of whaling but say there are no concrete plans for action against the country.

Japan “is out of step with the international community”, Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan, said in a statement when Tokyo announced its whaling plans last year.

Like other whaling nations, Japan argues hunting and eating whales are part of its culture.

A number of coastal communities in Japan have hunted whales for centuries but consumption only became widespread after World War Two when other food was scarce.

Didn’t Japan kill whales all along?

Whales were brought to the brink of extinction by hunting in the 19th and early 20th Century. In 1986, all IWC members agreed to a hunting moratorium to allow whale numbers to recover.

Whaling countries – like Japan, Norway and Iceland – assumed the moratorium would be temporary until everyone could agree on sustainable quotas. Instead it became a quasi-permanent ban.

Since 1987, Japan has killed between 200 and 1,200 whales each year under an exemption to the ban allowing scientific research.

Critics say this was just a cover so Japan could hunt whales for food, as the meat from the whales killed for research usually did end up for sale.

In 2018 Japan tried one last time to convince the IWC to allow whaling under sustainable quotas, but failed. So it left the body, effective July 2019.

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48592682

 

Japan is about to resume catching whales for profit, in defiance of international criticism.

Its last commercial hunt was in 1986, but Japan has never really stopped whaling – it has been conducting instead what it says are research missions which catch hundreds of whales annually.

But Japan has now withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which banned hunting, and will send out its first whaling fleet this July.

 

Isn’t whaling banned?

Whales were brought to the brink of extinction by hunting in the 19th and early 20th Century. By the 1960s, more efficient catch methods and giant factory ships made it obvious that whale hunting could not go unchecked.

So in 1986, all IWC members agreed to a hunting moratorium to allow whale numbers to recover.

Conservationists were happy but whaling countries – like Japan, Norway and Iceland – assumed the moratorium would be temporary until everyone could agree on sustainable quotas. Instead it became a quasi-permanent ban.

But there were exceptions in the moratorium, allowing indigenous groups to carry out subsistence whaling, and allowing whaling for scientific purposes.

Tokyo put that latter clause to full use. Since 1987, Japan has killed between 200 and 1,200 whales each year, saying this was to monitor stocks to establish sustainable quotas.

Critics say this was just a cover so Japan could hunt whales for food, as the meat from the whales killed for research usually did end up for sale.

Why is Japan restarting whaling now?

In 2018 Japan tried one last time to convince the IWC to allow whaling under sustainable quotas, but failed. So it left the body, effective July 2019.

The fisheries ministry told the BBC it would start issuing permits for hunts on 1 July. “But the starting date is subject to decisions of the whalers, weather and other conditions.”

• Could the ban on killing whales end?

• Pro-whaling nations block sanctuary plan

Whaling is a small industry in Japan, employing around 300 people. About five vessels are expected to set sail in July.

The whaling “will be conducted within Japan’s territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone”, Hideki Moronuki of the Japanese fishing ministry told the BBC.

This means Japan will no longer hunt whales in the Antarctic, as it did under its earlier research programme.

Like other whaling nations, Japan argues hunting and eating whales are part of its culture. A number of coastal communities in Japan have indeed hunted whales for centuries but consumption only became widespread after World War Two when other food was scarce.

From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s whale was the single biggest source of meat in Japan but since become a niche product again.

Is Japan’s plan legal?

“Within its 12 mile coastal waters, Japan can do whatever it wants,” Donald Rothwell, professor of international law at the Australian National University, told the BBC.

Beyond that, in its 200 miles (322km) exclusive economic zone and of course the high seas, the country is bound by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Article 65 of said convention mandates that “states shall co-operate with a view to the conservation” of whales and “shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study”.

Having left the IWC, Japan is no longer part of any such international organisation and that “directly raises questions issues whether or not Japan would be consistent with the convention,” Mr Rothwell explains.

It’s not clear if any country would try to bring Japan to court over this – in its defence, Japan might argue that for years it did try to co-operate within the IWC without any results.

Even if there were to be a ruling or injunction against Tokyo, there’d be no mechanism to enforce it.

What environmental impact will Japan’s whaling have?

The ministry will allow for the hunting of three species: minke, Bryde’s and sei whales.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, minke and Bryde’s whale are not endangered. Sei whale are classified as endangered but their numbers are increasing.

So in terms of numbers, Japan’s commercial whaling will have only a minimal impact.

In fact, some defenders of whaling argue that whale meat has a smaller carbon footprint than pork or beef.

Conservationist groups like Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd remain critical of Japan’s resumption of whaling but say there are no concrete plans yet to tackle the country over this.

Japan “is out of step with the international community”, Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan, said in a statement, urging Tokyo to abandon its hunting plans.

Besides the question of stock sustainability, a key argument against the hunt is that harpooning whales leads to a slow and painful death.

Modern hunting methods, though, aim to kill whales instantly and it backers say the near-global anti-whaling sentiment is deeply hypocritical., compared to, say, industrial meat production.

But even if Japan does defy the criticism and stick with whaling, there’s a good chance the contentious issue will gradually die down by itself.

Japanese demand for whale meat has long been on the decline and the industry is already being subsidised. Eventually, commercial whaling might be undone by simple arithmetic.

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 21, 2019

Contacts:
Betsy Klein, I AM WOLF NATION, (714) 478-0353, b@planb.foundation
Matt Francis, Project Coyote, (435) 659-9635, mfrancis@projectcoyote.org
Katie Stennes, Project Coyote, (240) 328-5369, kstennes@projectcoyote.org
Lain Kahlstrom, Animal Wellness Action, (480) 565-0655, lkahlstrom@outlook.com

Arizona Game & Fish Commission Adopts Rule to Ban
Wildlife Killing Contests

Commissioner Vows to Revisit Rule if Contests are Held Despite the Ban

Phoenix, AZ – Today the Arizona Game and Fish Commission (AZGF) voted unanimously (4 to 0) to ban wildlife killing contests (WKCs) for predatory and furbearing species in Arizona. For months a coalition comprised of concerned citizens and wildlife conservation organizations has worked tirelessly to ban WKCs statewide. Wildlife killing contests are barbaric events wherein participants compete to kill the greatest number, the largest, or even the youngest of the target wildlife species for “entertainment” and prizes. Hundreds of coyotes, bobcats, cougars, foxes and other species are killed in these events every year in Arizona.

In 2018 and 2019, Dewey-Humboldt, Flagstaff, Coconino County and Yavapai County passed resolutions condemning the events (Tucson and Pima passed similar resolutions in recent years). New Mexico and Vermont banned coyote killing contests in 2019 and 2018, respectively. California passed a wildlife killing contest regulation in 2014. Recently the Washington Post highlighted the Santa Slay Coyote Tournament, which takes place annually in Yavapai County, noting the national public outcry against these contests.

“We commend the Commission for adopting a rule to crack down on wildlife killing contests for predatory and furbearing species including coyotes and foxes,” said Matt Francis, Arizona State Representative for Project Coyote. “While we have concerns that potential loopholes may allow these contests to continue, we were pleased to hear that Commissioner Davis is committed to amending the rule if necessary to prevent participants from evading the ban. We all want the same thing: to end the cruel and ecologically destructive killing of the public’s wildlife for no good reason.”

“I believe Commissioner Davis said it best when he said it is the responsibility of the Commission to ensure their rules uphold the highest ethical principles, and they prohibit the take and use of wildlife for economic and illegitimate purposes,” stated I AM Wolf Nation Executive Director Betsy Klein. “As stewards of all wildlife, we owe this to present and future generations. While the rule leaves room for these atrocities to continue, it is a step in the right direction and we are thankful to the Commission for proposing such a rule in the first place.”

The coalition has been working to close loopholes in the rule that may allow WKC participants and organizers to continue their contests so long as participants don’t officially “register or record entry” or “pay a fee.” The rule as passed today also leaves animals such as prairie dogs and rabbits unprotected.

Today Commissioner Davis noted that he believed 99 percent of hunters would abide by the new rule.  
 
Over 70 conservation scientists have signed a statement condemning WKCs on ecological and ethical grounds (see a factsheet here explaining why indiscriminately killing coyotes is counterproductive).

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) itself recognizes that killing coyotes does not reduce their numbers, stating on their website: “Removing coyotes from one area generally results in other coyotes moving in from surrounding areas and breeding faster.” There is no way to know the effect that wildlife killing contests have on coyote populations in Arizona because AZGFD does not monitor the contests or track the number of coyotes killed in these events.

The coalition is hopeful that today’s action by the Game and Fish Commission put an end to the scientifically and ethically indefensible practice of wildlife killing contests in Arizona.

***

Footage of today’s Commission meeting is available here.

Read an Op Ed in today’s Arizona Daily Star by Dan Flores, author and Project Coyote Ambassador, and David Parsons, retired wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Project Coyote Science Advisory Board Member condemning wildlife killing contests.

Project Coyote, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Northern California, is a North American coalition of wildlife educators, scientists, ranchers, and community leaders promoting coexistence between people and wildlife, and compassionate conservation through education, science, and advocacy. For more information, visit ProjectCoyote.org

Project Coyote is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, which has received a Four Star rating from Charity Navigator.