TOKYO: Japanese whalers returned to port Thursday after an Antarctic hunt that killed more than 300 of the mammals, the government said.
The fleet had set sail for the Southern Ocean in December, with plans to slaughter 333 minke whales, despite a worldwide moratorium and opposition led by Australia and New Zealand.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency announced Thursday that the target number of “scientific research” kills had been achieved.
The 2015/16 season came after a one-year hiatus prompted by a ruling by the United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ), which said the annual hunt was a commercial venture masquerading as science.
Under the International Whaling Commission, to which Japan is a signatory, there has been a moratorium on hunting whales since 1986.
But Japan persists in the practice using a loophole in the ban that allows for lethal research. Tokyo claims it is trying to prove the whale population is large enough to sustain a return to commercial hunting, and says it has to kill the mammals to carry out its research properly.
However, it makes no secret of the fact that whale meat ends up on dinner tables and is served up in school lunches.
In response to the ICJ ruling, Japan’s 2014-15 mission carried out only “non-lethal research” such as taking skin samples and doing headcounts.
However, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been determined to resume the hunt.
The haul announced Thursday is bigger than it has been in recent years when the mission has been hampered by a confrontational campaign on the high seas by environmentalist group Sea Shepherd.
The group, which attracts support from celebrities including actress Brigitte Bardot, has harangued Japanese vessels in the Southern Ocean, and has claimed success in drastically reducing the catch.
In the 2013-14 season, just 251 minke whales were caught, while the figure was only 103 in the season before.
That compares with historic catches of around 850.
The returning fleet arrived early Thursday at Shimonoseki port in western Japan, the fisheries agency said.
Besides the kills, the agency also said it conducted non-lethal research such as observation, the taking of skin samples from live whales and attaching tracking devices to whales.
“Attaching GPS devices helps us study minke whales’ migration routes by tracking them for several days,” agency official Hiroyuki Morita told AFP.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace on Thursday labelled the hunt “unnecessary” and said it violated the UN court ruling.
“It is completely unacceptable for the Japanese government to ignore the ICJ’s findings and furthermore, completely unnecessary to go ahead with lethal research,” said Greenpeace Japan executive director Junichi Sato.
Japan has hunted whales for centuries, and their meat was a key source of protein in the immediate post-World War II years when the country was desperately poor.
But consumption has dramatically declined in recent decades, with significant proportions of the population saying they “never” or “rarely” eat whale meat.
Some experts say that Japan’s refusal to give up the Antarctic mission despite censure by the international court is largely due to a small group of powerful politicians.
Japan fleet kills 333 whales in Antarctic hunt
Japan fleet kills 333 whales in Antarctic hunt
Trump says Australia will grant asylum to Iran women footballers
- Presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem
MIAMI: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Australia had agreed to grant asylum to some of Iran’s visiting women’s football team, amid fears they could face retaliation back home for not singing the national anthem before a match.
The gesture ahead of the team’s Asian Cup match against South Korea last week was seen by many as an act of defiance against the Islamic republic just two days after the United States and Israel attacked it.
“I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, concerning the Iranian National Women’s Soccer Team. He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of,” Trump said Monday on his Truth Social network, less than two hours after an initial post urging Australia to take them in.
Trump added that “some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return.”
There was no immediate comment from the Australian government, which has so far declined to say whether it could offer the players asylum.
Asked about their case on Sunday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia “stands in solidarity” with the people of Iran.
The son of Iran’s late shah, US-based Reza Pahlavi, warned on Monday that the refusal to sing the anthem could have “dire consequences,” and urged Australia to offer the team protection.
Trump then weighed in, pressing Albanese to “give ASYLUM” to the team and adding: “The US will take them if you won’t.”
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” the US leader said on Truth Social.
Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.
Politicians, human rights activists and even “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling have also called for the team to be offered official protection.
“Please, protect these young women,” Rowling said in a post on social media.
‘Save our girls’
A presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem before their match against South Korea.
In subsequent games, the players saluted and sang.
Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting “regime change for Iran.”
They then surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting “let them go” and “save our girls.”
On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their balcony of their hotel.
Asked about the possibility of granted asylum, a spokesperson for Australia’s Home Affairs department told AFP earlier it “cannot comment on the circumstances of individuals.”
Amnesty International campaigner Zaki Haidari said they faced persecution, or worse, if they were sent home.
“Some of these team members probably have had their families already threatened,” Haidari told AFP.
“Them going back... who knows what sort of punishment they will receive?“
Despite being heavily monitored, the side would have a “small window of opportunity” to seek asylum at the airport, he said.
Iran’s embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment.
