EDITORIAL: Commercial whaling, after 31 years, sets sail in troubled waters

Japan resumed commercial whaling on July 1, reviving the old tradition for the first time in 31 years.

The day after Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission, the Fisheries Agency announced the annual harvest quota of 383, and whaling ships set sail from ports in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Kushiro, Hokkaido.

The whalers plan to catch more than 200 whales by the end of the year in Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Japan has stopped research whaling as it has bolted from the IWC. The annual quota for commercial whaling is lower than in research whaling. The target species are also different.

While fisheries minister Takamori Yoshikawa has welcomed the resumption of the business as the fulfillment of “a long-cherished wish” among people in the whaling industry across the nation, a business operator that uses a mother ship equipped with dissection and freezing facilities has described the feelings within the industry as “a mixture of hope and anxiety.”

There are two big concerns about the government’s policy.

First, Japan’s move to resume commercial whaling immediately after its pullout from the IWC could undermine its traditional principle of promoting international cooperation and respecting the rule of law.

Article 65 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea says states should work through the appropriate international organizations for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.

Japan conducting commercial whaling without IWC membership could become a target of international litigation if it is deemed to be a violation of the article.

Commenting on this possibility after a departure ceremony on July 1, Yoshikawa said, “It is up to other countries to make policy decisions on whether to take such action” and declined to answer hypothetical questions about potential cases.

He said the government will continue international cooperation on issues concerning whaling through participation in the IWC as an observer.

A Fisheries Agency official stresses that the annual harvest quota is based on a conservative calculation formula endorsed by the IWC’s Scientific Committee. But some whaling industry executives admit that it is difficult to argue that Japan’s commercial whaling is consistent with Article 65 of the convention.

The agency also says the quota was announced on the day whalers started operations partly because “huge amounts of calculations” had to be done to decide on the figure, which was then checked by foreign scientists, and partly because the announcement was timed to coincide with Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC.

But this indicates the agency’s feeble commitment to winning the understanding of audiences both at home and abroad.

When the government decided to pull out of the IWC at the end of last year, the decision was formalized by the Cabinet without disclosing any information about how the government reached its conclusion and was announced the following day.

The policy-making process concerning whaling has consistently been opaque and marked by a dearth of serious public debate on related issues.

The other big worry is the doubtful commercial viability of whaling. Both the areas for whaling and the main target species have been changed from those for research whaling. It is unclear how the catches will be valued in the market. Despite Tokyo’s claim that whaling is part of the nation’s “dietary culture,” Japanese consumption of whale meat has plunged from its peak.

Citing the fact that commercial whaling was restarted after a hiatus of 31 years, the government has decided to spend 1.9 billion yen ($17.4 million) in the current fiscal year to support efforts to find good fishing grounds and improve dissection technology.

If it remains dependent on such state subsidies, the whaling industry cannot be said to be commercially viable.

In particular, the mother ship whaling method will face a major challenge as the aging mother vessel, the Nisshin Maru, is approaching the end of its useful life and will have to be replaced before long.

If the government becomes significantly involved in such necessary investment, Japan’s “commercial whaling” will have to be viewed as “commercial” in name only.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 9