News

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Fishermen in the traditional whaling town of Taiji have been allowed to extend their annual dolphin drive hunting by a month through the end of May and to catch about 200 long-finned pilot whales, according to local fishermen.

With the permission of the Wakayama prefectural government, local fisherman caught about 60 long-finned pilot whales, a member of the dolphin family, on Wednesday and auctioned them off on Thursday morning.

A 61-year-old man running a whale meat processing business said he ate the whale meat as sashimi.

Permission to extend the hunting season was given in response to the likelihood the fishermen will not be able to hunt small whales in coastal waters this year for the first time since the practice began in 1988, having sent a whaling vessel for so-called research whaling in place of a boat from another Japanese whaling port that was hit by the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster.

While coastal whaling usually starts on May 1 and involves whaling ships, drive hunting, a traditional whaling method born in Taiji in which small cetaceans are driven into a bay, takes place from September through April. The method was featured in the controversial documentary film "The Cove."

The fishermen sought to extend the season as they had a poor catch of long-finned pilot whales among small cetacean species they were allowed to hunt, they said.

"We appreciate it (the extension) as our town can profit," the whale processor said.