Japanese annual marine research expedition kills 59 whales

Associated Press, guardian.co.uk 19 Oct 09;

Japan has caught 59 whales near the northern island of Hokkaido, officials said today, under a research programme critics allege is a cover for commercial whaling.

The annual expedition from the port city of Kushiro ended at the weekend after harvesting 59 minke whales, one whale short of the maximum 60 allowed by the International Whaling Commission.

Japan and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing for the IWC to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts. Japan also hunts about 1,000 whales in the Antarctic and Pacific Oceans under an IWC research programme.

Critics say the expeditions are a cover for commercial whaling because the harvest is sold to market for consumption.

As in previous years, the Fisheries Agency said the hunt off Hokkaido was aimed at studying the whales' feeding patterns and their effect on fish stocks. Findings will be presented at next year's meeting of the IWC.

During the 12-day expedition, whalers caught 36 male whales and 23 females, the agency said. Examination of their stomach contents found that the minkes most commonly fed on pollack, krill and anchovy in the research area, about 50 miles off the coast of Kushiro in the Pacific Ocean, it said.

Kushiro is 895 kilometers (556 miles) northeast of Tokyo.