Japanese whalers accused of doubling-back

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New Zealand News

Japanese whalers accused of doubling-back
MICHAEL FIELD
Last updated 17:44 04/03/2013

Japan's whaling fleet has turned around and is heading back into the Southern Ocean, according to anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd.

The activists claimed at the weekend the Japanese fleet was heading north away from the whaling.

But this afternoon Sea Shepherd said it had covertly placed a tracking device on the whaling fleet's tanker, San Laurel, which showed it had turned back into the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd said the 180-degree turn meant that the whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru was also heading south.

"Although there are very few days left in the whaling season, there is still the possibility that the Nisshin Maru can refuel and return for a few days of whaling."














Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/8380038/Japanese-whalers-accused-of-doubling-back

[Judi Lynn]

1. Each annual Antarctic whaling season costs Japanese taxpayers 10 million dollars, says IFAW

Tuesday, March 5th 2013- 04:47 UTC

Each annual Antarctic whaling season costs Japanese taxpayers 10 million dollars, says IFAW

Japan’s declining appetite for whale meat is nothing new; but is the country also losing patience with its whaling industry? The answer apparently is yes, according to a new report that highlights the huge cost to the Japanese taxpayer of sustaining its whaling fleet. Without government subsidies, the industry would collapse, it said.

Whaling is an unprofitable business that can survive only with substantial subsidies and one that caters to an increasingly shrinking and aging market,” according to the report, released earlier this month by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

According to data provided for the first time by fisheries authorities, Japan’s government has approved subsidies totaling more than 30 billion Yen (320 million dollars) between 1987 and last year.

The fleet of between four and six vessels that leaves for the Antarctic every winter costs the taxpayer about 10 million dollars a year, according to IFAW. Last year the subsidy included 2.28 billion Yen (20m) in funds intended to aid the reconstruction of the region devastated by the March 2011 tsunami. The government’s excuse: that some of the affected communities had a tradition of coastal whale hunting.

With thousands of tons of whale meat left unsold amid a dramatic decline in consumption, the government can never hope to recoup its investment, said Patrick Ramage, director of IFAW whale program.

More:
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/03/05/each-annual-antarctic-whaling-season-costs-japanese-taxpayers-10-million-dollars-says-ifaw

[Judi Lynn]

2. Japanese whaling industry 'dead in the water', says animal welfare group

Japanese whaling industry 'dead in the water', says animal welfare group

Charity says industry struggling to survive despite government bailout and calls for resources to be diverted to whale-watching

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 February 2013 07.36 EST

Japan's whaling industry is "dead in the water" and cannot survive without huge taxpayer subsidies, according to a study.

The report, to be published on Tuesday by the charity International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), draws on Japanese government data for the first time to build a case against the use of millions of dollars in public subsidies to prop up the industry amid a dramatic decline in consumption of whale meat.

Last year those subsidies included ¥2.28bn (£15.6m) siphoned off from the budget for reconstructing the region devastated by the March 2011 tsunami.

The report, seen by the Guardian, calls on the government to divert resources to Japan's fledgling whale-watching industry as a "pro-economy, pro-whale" alternative to its annual "research" hunts in the Antarctic. "Whaling is an unprofitable business that can survive only with substantial subsidies and one that caters to an increasingly shrinking and ageing market," the report says.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/04/japan-whaling-industry-dead-water

[fasttense]

3. It's good to know the Japanese whale killing industry

can only survive by direct support from the government (but then our massive financial corporations would have been dead in the water too if our federal government had NOT bailed them out). But thing have a way of growing more powerful when a nation's government starts to support them.

Here's hoping the whale killing industry dies before all the whales.

Go Sea Shepherd, you little pirate.