Japan's whale catch falls nearly 50% short of target due to obstruction

+

TOKYO, April 12 Kyodo -
Japan caught almost 50 percent fewer whales than targeted in the Antarctic
Ocean in what it calls research whaling for fiscal 2009 as a result of
obstructive activities carried out by a U.S. environmental group, the Fisheries
Agency said Monday.
A fleet of five vessels caught 507 whales -- 506 southern minke whales and one
finback whale, the agency said.
The number is the smallest since fiscal 2005 when Japan increased the whale
catch for research purposes.
The whaling mission, which was conducted by the Institute of Cetacean Research
between December and March, was suspended for 31 days due to acts of
obstruction by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the agency said.
''Anger is the word,'' Shigetoshi Nishiwaki, head of the research department at
the ICR, said in reference to Sea Shepherd's obstructive activities when he met
reporters following his return home aboard the mothership of the fleet.
''They (Sea Shepherd) say they protect the sea but neglected a fuel leak'' from
their ship that collided with one of the Japanese whaling vessels, he added.
The whaling mission for fiscal 2009 ended in March confirmed a stable, large
population of minke whales and a recovery in the population of humpback whales,
the agency said.
Japan's whaling program for scientific purposes, which includes not only whale
catches but also visual observation, is condemned by antiwhaling groups as a
cover for commercial whaling because it hunts a large number of whales.
But Nishiwaki brushed the criticism aside, saying the ''minimum number of
whales needed for resource management'' is caught in the program.
==Kyodo