The animals rights group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has forced Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to cancel the rest of the winter whaling season, which generally runs through mid-March. Michihiko Kano said in an interview Friday that Sea Shepherd member ships closely monitor the Japanese whalers and occasionally get into altercations. Because of this, he felt that the government’s only course of action was to cancel the rest of the season.
Kano stressed in the interview that it is not what the government wanted to do, but feared the altercations made it too dangerous for the whalers on the high seas. He said, “From the viewpoint of our crew’s safety, we have decided to cut short the research whaling at this time, against our will.”
Japan started whale hunting in the Antarctic in 1987. Many have called for Japan to stop hunting whales, but they claim to be doing it for scientific research, which is allowed under a worldwide moratorium. However, those opposed say meat from the whales caught ends up in supermarkets and at restaurants.
In 2005, Sea Shepherd began doing whatever they could to prevent the practice. This marks the first year Japan has cancelled the season and if it prevents the killing of whales, Sea Shepherd sees that as a victory. Captain Paul Watson helms the Steve Erwin ship and is the head of Sea Shepherd’s operations in the Antarctic. If the news is true, he said, it was great, but said some of the whalers were still in the region. “But we’ll keep tailing them until they leave these international waters” he said.
Watson said Sea Shepherd had gained support and people in the recent years. He thinks their efforts have helped wear down and “bankrupt” the whalers, meaning that they have become less of a force and making it uneconomical for them to continue. He did state that he felt it was wrong of the Japanese minister to label them “dangerous” because no one had ever been hurt during the altercations.