'Kennedy should visit'

A local fisheries official said on Tuesday that US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy should visit Taiji to see the "humane" killing methods used in the dolphin hunt, days after Kennedy tweeted her disapproval of the slaughter.

The official, who did not wish to be named, said Kennedy should also see for herself how the hunt supports the local economy.

"This is a very small town in the countryside. We have no other major industries," he said.

"I want her to come and visit so that she can understand how we make a living from it. Many fishermen make a living from the hunting, and many others also earn their living by working at food processing factories."

The mass killing of the animals has received worldwide attention with the release of the Oscar-winning film The Cove.

The film showed how the fishermen of Taiji corral dolphins in the bay and slaughtered the animals, whose blood turned the water red as they were stabbed to death.

But the Taiji official said hunters no longer killed dolphins in that way.

"We have switched to a more humane way of butchering them," he said. "We cut the spinal cord so that they don't bleed. We don't butcher them like before."

AFP

(China Daily 01/22/2014 page12)