Whalers return with smallest haul
Home from the hunt: The Yushin Maru, one of three ships in Japan's whaling fleet, returns to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Sunday. | KYODO

Whalers return with smallest haul

Kyodo

SHIMONOSEKI, YAMAGUCHI PREF. – The three-ship whaling fleet led by the Nisshin Maru has returned to the port of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, after completing this season’s hunt in the Antarctic.

Multiple dents were visible on the bow and hull of the Nisshin Maru, which collided with vessels of the antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

At a welcoming ceremony Sunday, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the group’s obstructive activities “amounted to piracy, as the International Whaling Commission has recognized the legitimacy of Japan’s research whaling.”

The Fisheries Agency said the fleet caught 103 southern minke whales this season, the smallest catch since Japan started research whaling in the Antarctic in 1987.

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Home from the hunt: The Yushin Maru, one of three ships in Japan's whaling fleet, returns to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Sunday. | KYODO

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  • AnimuX

    The dents and scratches are not just from collisions with the protesters. The captain of the Nisshin Maru in attempts to shove the protesters away from the refueling ship ‘Sun Laurel’ actually rammed the fuel tanker in the process. In fact, the idiots throwing flash bang grenades even managed to land one of their “warning balls” right on the fuel tanker — just below the “No Smoking” sign.

    Minister Hayashi should declare an end to this massive waste of Japan’s tax money and return the funds taken from the tsunami reconstruction budget back to the people of Japan who were directly affected by the disaster.

    Instead, the ‘amakudari’ of Japan’s corrupt government continue to declare war against protesters and millions of people who oppose the whale poaching that has been going on since the 1985/86 season when the International Whaling Commission set all commercial whaling quotas to zero — and since 1994 when the IWC established the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

    Upholding international conventions is not piracy.

    Killing whales during an international moratorium on commercial whaling, within an international whale sanctuary, while the international organization responsible for regulating whaling calls on Japan to stop killing whales is poaching.

    Japan should honor its international obligations under the ICRW, adhere to the democratic decisions of the IWC, and immediately put a stop to the wasteful, cruel, and prohibited practice of whaling.

  • Jinmu

    “Research whaling” is extremely disingenuous, and unworthy of the otherwise high standard of honor of the Japanese people. “Profit whaling” is much more accurate.

  • With so many years of “research whaling” there should be a lot of studies and papers published by the japanese “scientists.” No?

  • You wont even get 103 next season…quit while you are ahead Japan…Sea Shepherd Australia is already preparing our ships for next December….see you on the water with 4 SSCS(Aust) ships and 120 crew….bring it on!

  • This boat causes harm to japanese brands like : Toyota . Sony etc.

  • Ben

    i don’t mind it so much except for that they’re doing it on public funds. it’s just a massive loss-making venture for the sole purpose of providing a reason to rent out ships and employ a bunch of stubborn fools stuck in the past.

  • I guess you do need to research which particular wine goes with which particular whale meat dish. Perfectly understandable. I wonder when all of this exhaustive research will be published for the world to see