WORLD CONDEMS JAPAN’s WHALE HUNT

[Anonymous]

Japan whale expedition condemned
The
UK, Australia and New Zealand have sharply criticised Japan for the
launch of its largest ever whaling expedition.The hunting fleet has
instructions to kill up to 1,000 whales. Humpback whales will be hunted
for the first time in over 40 years.Japan says the hunt is for research
purposes and that numbers are too small to have a major impact on
populations.New Zealand PM Helen Clark said this claim was “deception”
and that the whalers should not have left port.The Japanese whaling
fleet set sail on its five-month mission from the southern port of
Shimonoseki on Sunday.As well as up to 900 minke whales and 50 fin
whales, it will kill up to 50 humpback whales for the first time since
a moratorium was introduced in 1963.The species had been hunted almost
to extinction before the ban.

‘Guise and deception’
Mrs Clark
told local media it would be better if the whaling fleet had stayed at
homeShe criticised “the guise, the deception, the claim that it is
scientific whaling when they want to take 1,000 whales”.MRs Clark added
that it would be difficult for New Zealand to offer help if any of the
ships got into trouble at sea.The Australian government has also
expressed disapproval, saying it is “deeply disappointed” by the launch
of the expedition.Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said there was no
evidence of Japan producing any data from its research.”Scientific
whaling is a phrase they use to camouflage the fact that they still
indulge in whaling,” he said.He said he had asked to see the Japanese
ambassador but he ruled out deploying military defence forces, saying
that Australia would not go to war with Japan over the issue.His
comments followed a suggestion by the opposition Labor party that they
would send the Australian navy to track the fleet if they were elected
in the imminent elections.

Diplomatic action
Britain has said
it is considering high-level diplomatic action to protest against the
hunt.A spokeswoman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra) said the government believes the humpback hunt is
unnecessary and that it has “serious reservations as to its scientific
value”.”We are committed to maintaining the moratorium on commercial
whaling and will oppose all efforts by Japan to undermine this with
so-called scientific whaling,” she said.The hunt has drawn strong
opposition from environmental and conservation groups.Greenpeace is
hoping to locate the fleet in order to shoot video footage, but claims
the ships have turned off their identification equipment, making them
hard to find.The more radical Sea Shepherd group said its activists
will attempt to intercept the ships once the hunt is under way.The
expedition is scheduled to run until mid-April 2008.

US joins critics of Japan whaling
The US has added its voice to international criticism of Japan’s largest-ever whaling expedition.
The
UK, Australia and New Zealand have already urged Japan to call off this
year’s hunt, which will target humpback whales for the first time in
decades.Japan says the hunt is for scientific purposes and that the
number of whales to be killed is too small to have a major impact on
populationsUS officials say non-lethal techniques could achieve the
same research goalsThe Japanese whaling fleet set sail on its
five-month mission from the southern port of Shimonoseki on Sunday.It
has instructions to kill up to 1,000 whales.As well as up to 900 minke
whales and 50 fin whales, it will kill up to 50 humpback whales for the
first time since a moratorium was introduced in the mid-1960s.The
species had been hunted almost to extinction before the ban.

‘Guise and deception’
It
was especially important that the Japanese whalers not kill humpback
and fin whales, said state department spokesman Sean McCormack.”While
recognising Japan’s legal rights, under the Whaling Convention, to
conduct this hunt, we note that non-lethal research techniques are
available to provide almost all relevant data on whale populations,” he
said.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark said it would be
better if the whaling fleet had stayed at home.She criticised “the
guise, the deception, the claim that it is scientific whaling when they
want to take 1,000 whales”Mrs Clark added that it would be difficult
for New Zealand to offer help if any of the ships got into trouble at
sea.The Australian government has also expressed disapproval, saying it
is “deeply disappointed” by the launch of the expedition.Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said there was no evidence of Japan producing
any data from its research.He said he had asked to see the Japanese
ambassador but he ruled out deploying military defence forces, saying
that Australia would not go to war with Japan over the issue.His
comments followed a suggestion by the opposition Labor party that they
would send the Australian navy to track the fleet if they were elected
in the imminent elections.

Diplomatic action
Britain has said it is considering high-level diplomatic action to protest against the hunt.

A
UK government spokeswoman said the humpback hunt was unnecessary and
that it has “serious reservations as to its scientific value”.”We are
committed to maintaining the moratorium on commercial whaling and will
oppose all efforts by Japan to undermine this with so-called scientific
whaling,” she said.The hunt has drawn strong opposition from
environmental and conservation groups.Greenpeace is hoping to locate
the fleet in order to shoot video footage, but claims the ships have
turned off their identification equipment, making them hard to find.The
more radical Sea Shepherd group said its activists will attempt to
intercept the ships.The expedition is scheduled to run until mid-April
2008. 

[Author]

November 20, 2007 at 3:07 PM