Japan hunts fin whales again: criticism grows

Japan's whalers are hunting fin whales for the first time in years.

The whaling company Kyodo Senpaku has since killed its first fin whale.

The authority had recently approved a catch quota of 59 fin whales in Japanese waters for this year. International animal and environmental protection organisations strongly condemn Japan's whaling.

Fin whales are listed on the Red List as “vulnerable”, meaning there is a high risk that they will become extinct in the wild in the near future.

There are currently around 100’000 individuals. Iceland also hunts these animals; a total of 128 fin whales may be caught there this season.

Harsh criticism of whaling

“Commercial whaling is cruel, unnecessary and completely out of date. Japan must stop this senseless practice immediately.” This was stated by Andreas Dinkelmeyer, campaign director of the animal and environmental protection organisation IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) in Germany.

Instead, Japan should work together with the international community on urgently needed solutions to protect the oceans, he demands.

The spokesperson for Japan's fisheries authority, however, said Japan was acting on the basis of scientific findings. According to this, their own research had shown that there are many fin whales in the North Pacific.

Hunting only in own waters

In 2019, Japan resumed commercial whaling for the first time after three decades of enforced interruption. This came after the Asian country had previously withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

The reason for the withdrawal was Japan's frustration with the whaling moratorium in place since 1986. Tokyo fought unsuccessfully for the reinstatement of commercial hunting. The country has since restricted its hunting to its territorial waters and economic zone.

Only a few enthusiasts still eat the meat

Until now, Japan hunted three species: minke whales, Bryde's whales, and sei whales. Now the fin whale, the second-largest living mammal, is also a target for whalers.

Japan's government claims that commercial hunting will not endanger the populations of these marine mammals. In fact, whaling has long become a matter of national sovereignty for Japan's government.

Yet it was once the American occupying power that pushed the East Asian country toward whaling — following the lost Second World War, in order to supply the then-starving population with protein. But that was long ago; today, the dark whale meat finds only a few enthusiasts in the prosperous island nation.

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