Japan's decision to expand whale hunt criticized

TOKYO — Japan has expanded its commercial whaling to include fin whales, the second-largest animal species on the planet, a decision criticized by Australia's government on Thursday.

One of only three countries to hunt whales commercially, along with Norway and Iceland, Japan added fin whales to a catch list that already includes minke, Bryde's and sei whales.

"Essentially, our rationale is that there are sufficient resources" of fin whales, a fisheries agency official told AFP on Thursday of the plan to hunt 59 of them this year.

Fin whales are deemed "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Japan's decision, mooted by authorities for months but only made official on Wednesday, has alarmed animal welfare activists.

Australia is "deeply disappointed", Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement.

"Australia is opposed to all commercial whaling and urges all countries to end this practice," she said.

It came as international drama surrounds prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was arrested in Greenland last month.

Watson, the 73-year-old US-Canadian founder of the activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was detained under an international arrest warrant issued by Tokyo.

Denmark's Justice Ministry said on Thursday that it has received a formal extradition request from Japan for Watson. Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory.

He was arrested after docking to refuel in Greenland's capital on the way to "intercept" Japan's new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

The Kangei Maru, a 9,300-metric-ton mothership that set off from Japan in May, processes whales caught by smaller vessels and stores their meat for consumption in Japan.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries and the meat was a key source of protein in the years after World War II.

It carried on hunting whales for "scientific" purposes after an International Whaling Commission, or IWC, moratorium on commercial whaling, killing hundreds in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

However, after years of tensions that took a toll on its international reputation, Japan quit the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling inside its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Japan killed 294 whales last year, a number it says is sustainable.

A panel of experts commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry said in June that Japanese fishermen should be able to hunt fin whales.

Agriculture Minister Tetsushi Sakamoto at the time called whales "an important food resource".

Agencies via Xinhua