Japan drops humpback whales from kill list

The Japan News.Net
Friday 21st December, 2007 (IANS)

Japan has dropped its controversial plan to hunt humpback whales in Antarctic waters after strong protests led by Australia, chief government spokesperson Nobutaka Machimura said Friday.

'Japan will not hunt humpback whales,' Machimura told a news conference.

'It is true that Australia expressed quite a strong opinion to Japan on this,' he said. 'As a result, I hope this will lead to better relations with Australia.'

On Wednesday, Australia and New Zealand said they will lead a formal diplomatic protest against Japan's move to catch more than 1,000 whales in the Antarctic over the southern hemisphere summer.

Japan had planned to harpoon 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales in its current expedition to Antarctica. Japan is still going ahead with plans to kill the minke and fin species.

Japan claims its annual foray into Antarctic waters is a scientific research mission, but Wellington and Canberra, backed by environmentalists around the world, condemn it as ill-disguised commercial whaling designed to catch meat for the Japanese shops.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura warned that the growing row with Australia would be difficult to resolve.

'Japan has its own culture as much as Australia does and since (whaling) involves public sentiment, it is not an issue we can resolve by convincing each other using logic,' Komura said.

The Australian government has announced that it will send ships, including the 105-metre Oceanic Viking, a customs' service icebreaker with a civilian crew, and aircraft to monitor the Japanese fleet.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said Australia was formally protesting to Japan about its whale slaughter, but would not use force.

'It will be surveillance, not enforcement, or intervention,' Smith told reporters in Sydney. 'For the purposes of that surveillance, the customs party will not be armed.'

He said the intention was to collect evidence that could be used in a legal challenge to whaling.

The humpback hunt would have been the first time since the 1960s, when a moratorium was introduced, that Japan would killed the animal beloved by whale-watchers.

The EU and International Whaling Commission also pressured Japan to stop the hunt and Greenpeace and the militant splinter group Sea Shepherd have each sent a ship to try to disrupt Japan's whaling mission.

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