ID :
191397
Mon, 06/27/2011 - 19:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/191397
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Japan Coast Guard asked to send patrol boat to protect whalers
TOKYO (Kyodo) - The fisheries ministry has asked the Japan Coast Guard to dispatch a patrol boat to protect Japanese ships engaged in what they call research whaling from obstructive actions by an antiwhaling group this season, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
The request followed the Japanese whaling fleet's suspension of operations in the Antarctic Ocean last season due to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's actions, which forced the fleet's four vessels to return home in February after catching far fewer whales than planned, the sources said.
But the coast guard has shown ''reluctance'' toward meeting the request in the absence of a domestic legal base on which it can dispatch a patrol boat, said an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Coast guard officials boarded whaling boats in the past at the ministry's request but failed to prevent antiwhaling activists from obstructive actions.
During the last whaling season, Sea Shepherd engaged in disruptive activities, such as throwing bottles containing chemicals at the Japanese ships.
The fisheries ministry thus concluded it necessary to use a coast guard patrol boat as a deterrent, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the International Whaling Commission is expected to take up the issue of safety at sea at its annual meeting to be held in Jersey in Britain's Channel Islands next month.
Japan will urge the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to stop obstructive actions by not letting activists register ships or having headquarters in their countries.
Japan has hunted whales since 1987 for what it says are scientific research purposes after officially halting commercial whaling in line with an international moratorium. Environmentalists condemn the activity as a cover for the continuation of commercial whaling.
The IWC at its annual meeting last year discussed a proposal to allow Japan to hunt whales in Japanese coastal areas in exchange for a reduction of its annual catch limit for research whaling, but the proposal was deferred.
The request followed the Japanese whaling fleet's suspension of operations in the Antarctic Ocean last season due to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's actions, which forced the fleet's four vessels to return home in February after catching far fewer whales than planned, the sources said.
But the coast guard has shown ''reluctance'' toward meeting the request in the absence of a domestic legal base on which it can dispatch a patrol boat, said an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Coast guard officials boarded whaling boats in the past at the ministry's request but failed to prevent antiwhaling activists from obstructive actions.
During the last whaling season, Sea Shepherd engaged in disruptive activities, such as throwing bottles containing chemicals at the Japanese ships.
The fisheries ministry thus concluded it necessary to use a coast guard patrol boat as a deterrent, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the International Whaling Commission is expected to take up the issue of safety at sea at its annual meeting to be held in Jersey in Britain's Channel Islands next month.
Japan will urge the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to stop obstructive actions by not letting activists register ships or having headquarters in their countries.
Japan has hunted whales since 1987 for what it says are scientific research purposes after officially halting commercial whaling in line with an international moratorium. Environmentalists condemn the activity as a cover for the continuation of commercial whaling.
The IWC at its annual meeting last year discussed a proposal to allow Japan to hunt whales in Japanese coastal areas in exchange for a reduction of its annual catch limit for research whaling, but the proposal was deferred.
