Migaloo photograph from Aquatic Blue Charters
Japan’s whaling fleet is currently hunting in the north-west Pacific Ocean and apparently intends to turn its attention to the Southern Ocean at the end of the year, according to the Kyodo News June 27, 2011:TOKYO — The fisheries ministry has asked the Japan Coast Guard to dispatch a patrol boat to protect Japanese ships engaged in what they call research whaling from obstructive actions by an anti whaling group this season, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
The request followed the Japanese whaling fleet’s suspension of operations in the Antarctic Ocean last season due to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s actions, which forced the fleet’s four vessels to return home in February after catching far fewer whales than planned, the sources said.
Meanwhile in the same paper on June 24 it was reported that in Japanese waters:
Radioactive cesium was detected from two minke whales caught off the coast of Kushiro, Hokkaido, in Japan's so-called research whaling, a whalers' association said Tuesday. While the level of the radioactive material remained below the temporarily set upper limit, the association officials said during a press conference in Kushiro that the contamination must have been caused by the continuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and that they will closely monitor future developments.
The Independent newspaper on July 2, 2011 published the following concerning the International Whaling Commission:
Britain is embarking on a radical attempt to clean up the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which has been increasingly racked by allegations of corruption amongst its member countries.
At the heart of the concerns are repeated accusations that Japan, the leading pro-whaling nation, has been persuading small nations which are members of the IWC to vote in favour of a resumption of commercial whaling, by means of aid packages and the direct bribing of individuals………
A sweeping resolution put forward for the next IWC meeting, beginning in Jersey a week on Monday, would radically revise the commission's procedures, some of which date from its founding in 1946, are regarded as lax and inadequate and "leave it open to accusations of malpractice," in the words of Britain's Fisheries minister, Richard Benyon.
In particular, the UK resolution would end the astonishing situation where the 89 IWC member states are allowed to pay their annual subscriptions by cheque or in cash, instead of by bank transfer, as is the normal case with international organisations. It is thought that some of these subscriptions, which range from £100,000 in the case of Japan to about £4,000 for small states, have been paid in the past with Japanese-provided funds.
The British resolution also seeks to make the IWC's own scientific reports more rigorous, make its record-keeping more timely and accurate, and make its meetings more open to representatives from environmental pressure groups and other non-governmental organisations.
No comments:
Post a Comment