Japan abandons whale-hunting season in Southern Ocean: reports
4:23 PM February 28
Japan is set to abandon whale hunting in the Antarctic for this season after its main whaling ship was crippled by a fire two weeks ago, public broadcaster NHK has reported.
The Nisshin Maru, the 8,000 tonne flagship of Japan's whaling fleet, restarted its engines at the weekend after being stranded in frigid waters since the fire, which killed a crewman.
The Japanese fleet sailed out of Antarctic waters on Wednesday, environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement, adding that its own ship, the Esperanza, had followed the Japanese fleet.
A Fisheries Ministry official said on Wednesday he had no information on any planned withdrawal of the fleet from the area.
Officials at the Institute for Cetacean Research, a partly government funded body that oversees the whaling program, were unavailable for comment.
Japan's whale hunt, which Tokyo says is conducted for research purposes, had aimed to catch more than 900 whales.
The hunt has come under growing pressure from environmental groups, who say it is cruel and violates a 1986 global ban on commercial whaling.
The meat ends up in restaurants and on supermarket shelves.
The fire aboard the Nisshin Maru had also sparked concern that oil or chemicals could spill into the Southern Ocean, close to the world's biggest Adelie penguin breeding colony.
Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, has expressed increasing frustration with the International Whaling Commission in recent years.
Earlier this month Tokyo hosted a special meeting of the commission aimed at shifting its focus to whale management and away from the moratorium, but almost half the member countries boycotted the event.
- Reuters Source: ABC
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