Whaling fleet for sale

April 24, 2006

21 April 2006

The owners of Japan's whaling fleet plan to sell up

and do something less bloody with their money. But

that doesn't let whales off the hook.

Last week, the fleet returned with its largest kill

for 20 years, totalling 850 minke and 10 fin whales.

Even before the whales were brought ashore, the three

shareholding companies of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha - the

only firm contracted to carry out scientific whaling

by Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) -

said they were preparing to give up ownership of the

fleet, apparently in a bid to distance themselves from

the industry in the face of growing public opposition.

Far from being a victory for anti-whaling campaigners,

some conservationists say this will only make the

situation worse. That's because the companies plan to

transfer ownership to the ICR and other public

interest companies in the next few weeks - to the

Japanese government, in other words. The government

would be less susceptible to pressure from

anti-whaling groups, says Clare Perry of the

Environmental Investigation Agency, an international

campaigning organisation.

What is more, at least one of the shareholding

companies, Maruha, the world's largest seafood

company, will still profit from whaling through a

subsidiary that will carry on purchasing and

processing whale meat, says Perry.

The news comes amid fears that pro-whaling nations

will be majority members of the International Whaling

Commission when it next meets in June, and might seek

to reintroduce commercial whaling.

From issue 2548 of New Scientist magazine, 21 April

2006, page 6

Recommended Posts