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Japan Launches Whaling Mission
S H I M O N O S E K I, Japan, Nov. 17 -- Shrugging off possible U.S. sanctionsover its expanded whale hunt, Japan threw a party today as a fleetof ships headed off for the Antarctic on a mission to take 400minke whales over the next five months.
This port on the southwestern tip of Japan’s main island bid arousing farewell to the five-ship fleet — part of the country’smuch-criticized whale research program — with a brass band, beertoasts and fireworks.
“We want everyone to understand that the research we are doingis necessary,” Shimonoseki Mayor Kiyoshi Ejima told the crew anddozens of officials and spectators under tents set up on the wharf.
World Is Watching
The hunt comes as President Clinton is deciding whether torecommend sanctions against Japan over the expansion of its hunt inthe North Pacific. Japan was already hunting minke whales, but itnow will target Bryde’s and sperm whales too. Both are protectedunder U.S. law.
Commercial whaling has been banned for the last two decades, butTokyo defends its hunts as scientific research allowed by theInternational Whaling Commission. It argues that it gains valuabledata on sea resources through its whale catch and denies that thehunting endangers any species.
Critics, though, say the program is simply a cover to supplyJapanese restaurants with pricey whale meat.
The dispute is beginning to dog Japanese officialsinternationally. Clinton brought up the conflict in talks Thursdaywith Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the Asia PacificEconomic Cooperation summit in Brunei.
Clinton told Mori the hunt could hurt vital U.S.-Japanrelations, but he did not specifically mention sanctions. Morianswered in line with long-standing Japanese policy: that science,not emotion, should guide the discussion.
Clinton is expected to decide before leaving office in Januarywhether to recommend that Congress impose sanctions, which couldinclude denying Japan the right to fish in U.S. waters, or evenstiffer penalties.
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