JAPAN -- After what seemed like a thirty-year hiatus, Japan has set a fleet of vessels to set out to see to catch some whales. This would be the first after Japan has withdrawn its support and membership from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The fleet is composed of five sheets that set to sail from the port in Abashiro in Kushiro Hokkaido, north of Japan on July 1st of this year. A ceremony was held before they set, while, they are expected to continue whaling until the end of autumn.
The vessels were reportedly owned by six whaling operators across the country. They are set to sail to hunt up for whales within the exclusive economic zone of Japan. They do not have any plans to venture into the Antarctic.
The whaling mission next month aims to bring home a large number of whale species, including the famous Giant Beaked Berardius whales that are often out at sea during the summer months. The Minke Whales are also aplenty in the waters of Japan during autumn around October of each year.
After three decades of what seemed like a resting period, this will be the first timethat Japan will be conducting commercial whaling practices. They stopped such whaling activities around 1988 as part of their participation in the declaration of the moratorium set by the International Whaling Commission.
Japan has attracted criticism when it announced its withdrawal from the IWX in December following a statement that the commission has failed to follow its very mandate -- to balance the preservation of whale species while orderly developing the whaling industry in the world.
While whaling missions continued in Japan, its purpose was mainly for scientific research. Such activities did not escape criticism as critics accused them of using such practices to cover up commercial whaling.
Japan has long campaigned for the resumption of the whaling industry claiming that the consumption of its meat is deeply rooted in their culture. They also claim that most of the whale species that they hunt for are not endangered. The constituents of highly influential people in Japan belong to whaling communities in Japan including the community where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came from.
