By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Sep 27 2000 (IPS)

Japan is showing no signs of bowing to U.S. pressure to give up its whaling program despite the threat of being denied access to fishing rights in U.S. waters, possible trade sanctions and the cancellation of regular bilateral fisheries talks.

Last Thursday, Japan’s five-vessel research whaling fleet returned home from a hunt in the northwestern Pacific Ocean with a catch of 88 whales that included — for the first time since a moratorium was slapped on commercial whaling in 1986 — Bryde’s and sperm whales, two larger species that have been protected due to their dwindling numbers.

Both the Bryde’s and sperm whales are protected under U.S. law, and Japan’s decision to continue its hunt for these two species, is expected to lead to a full-scale dispute between the two countries.

President Bill Clinton ordered an investigation into Japan’s whaling practices and told U.S. officials to draft a list of ways to respond, including trade sanctions, that could cover Japanese fishery products.

U.S. Secretary Madeline Albright and Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono clashed on the issue during a meeting at the U.N. Millennium General Assemrbly in New York last week.

The U.S. side conveyed “strong disappointment” over Japan’s whaling practices, while reports here say Tokyo threatened to “take action under international laws should the U.S. impose trade sanctions”.

Japan reacted with dismay when Washington boycotted an international meeting of environment ministers in August in protest against Tokyo’s expanded whaling program.

“We should not hold emotional talks, we want to hold rational talks based on international law,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hidenao Nakagawa told journalists recently.

Tokyo maintains that many whale populations have expanded since the moratarium. The head of the Institute of Cetacean Research, who also heads the research fleet which just returned, said there are an estimated 100,000 sperm whales in the northwestern Pacific, pointing out that the U.S. was basing its judgment on erroneous information.

The government said 43 Bryde’s, five sperm and 40 minke whales were caught during the recent whale hunt — Aug 1 to Sept 16. This is under a two-year program aimed at collecting data in preparation for a full-fledged program due to start in 2002.

The Fisheries Agency announced that the research team discovered many sulphur-bottom whales and fin whales off Kamchatka, Russia, and speculated that baleen whale populations are also recovering.

The United States has found allies in conservationists in Japan, who are worried over signs pointing to a resumption of commercial whaling in the country.

Junko Sakurai from Greenpeace, Japan warns: “The way the Japanese government is going about the current dispute definitely points to Japan’s determination to resume commercial whaling.”

Japan defends its scientific whaling program, carried out twice a year, on the grounds that the research is important for a better understanding of whale populations and marine life in general.

Refuting conservationists’ arguments that scientific whaling does not need to involve killing, it says killing the mammals is necessary for analyzing their growth.

Activists, however, say scientific whaling is just a guise to keep up the practice of eating whale meat, a tradition that goes back to the 16th century.

Sakurai points out that whales caught in the hunt are sold at exorbitant prices. The wholesale price of a sperm whale is around Yen 8 million (75,470 U.S. dollars). She adds that Japan is intent on catching the larger whale species so it will have more meat to sell.

Professor of Toshio Katsuya of Mie University, a former researcher with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, reports that while hunting whales may be necessary for collecting data, the big issue that faces Japan now is how it can ever extricate itself from whaling.

“The government, considering escalating world opinion against the harvesting of these big animals, should have moved years ago to help rehabilitate whalers by teaching them new skills to gradually move to other jobs. But since it decided otherwise, there is no way out now than to keep forcing the resumption of whaling,” he says.

Currently, Japan has three whaling companies operating five ships. The whale trade employs 1000 people, including 450 fishermen.

Japan catches 440 minke whales per year under the scientific program. The meat of these small species, whose harvesting is allowed, is sold to posh restaurants.

Kujiraya, the only restaurant serving whale meat in Tokyo, says it gets 200 to 300 customers each day. They normally order whale dishes, which cost between Yen 1,300 and Yen 1,600 (12-15 U.S. dollars).

The issue is now so heated that it is turning into a national debate. While more than 48 percent say they have not eaten whale meat since childhood, in a poll conducted last month by conservationists, many people say they do not want foreign intervention in an issue they must decide by themselves.

“We don’t ask the Americans to stop eating turkey on Christmas Day,”said a businessman interviewed on television.

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