A Japanese fishery official said on Tuesday that Tokyo will not
yield to foreign pressure seeking to stop it from whaling, arguing
that it is done for scientific research.
In Japan, whale meat is part of the traditional cuisine, but in
1986 it accepted a moratorium on commercial whaling by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC).
It resumed "research whaling" in 1987, the whale meat from which
is sold on the market.
Tokyo will reportedly tell the IWC that it intends to nearly
double its annual catch of minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean.
Japan says whaling provides research on whales' ages, eating
habits and other details, saying the species involved such as
minkes are thriving and consuming valuable fish stock.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard wrote to his counterpart
Junichiro Koizumi earlier on Tuesday asking him to scrap reported
plans to hunt species that are considered endangered.
(CRI May 26, 2005)
