World Whaling

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Japan

Tokuya Restaurant. Osaka , Japan

The Japanese whaling tradition stretches back unbroken over millenia. Present-day whaling falls into three categories: small-type coastal whaling, a hand-thrown harpoon fishery for dolphins and porpoises, and a drive fishery for pilot whales, dolphins and porpoises. In each case, the harvest is small, especially when measured in relation to the sizes of the populations from which they are taken.
In addition, a small number of Japanese research vessels conduct scientific whaling under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). The information they collect goes to the Scientific Committee of the IWC. This scientific whaling takes only very small numbers of whales. Recently, the North Pacific research program, which is directed to increasing understanding of the structure and interrelationships of the regional marine ecosystem, has included five sperm whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 39 sei whales and 150 minke whales (2002). The numbers are all conservative in relation to the regional and global populations of these particular species.
Small-type coastal whaling in Japan is community-based. At present, only nine whaling vessels (each less than 48 tons displacement) are licensed for this fishery however, since the controversial IWC moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1987, only half of these have been involved in whaling at any time. The small-type coastal whalers are now hunting only three species of small cetaceans, under quite conservative quotas.
Minke whales, for which small-type coastal whalers had an annual quota of over 300 until 1988, are now subject to the IWC moratorium.
However, starting in 2002, the whalers resumed taking 50 minke whales annually with special permits issued as part of the Japanese North Pacific Research Program. Demand for fresh, not frozen, minke whale meat only provided by the small-type whalers, remains high.
Current estimates place the North Pacific minke population at a robust 25,000, but despite findings from the IWC Scientific Committee that this population could easily sustain a harvest of 200 whales a year, the IWC continues to impose a zero quota on the Japanese small-type coastal harvest of minkes. The Japanese delegation to the IWC continually requests an interim relief allocation of 50 whales, but to no avail.
Meat from these various whale fisheries is distributed in a number of ways: meat from the drive fishery is sold at a local market auction; and meat from the small-type coastal harvest is both sold and given as gifts in the communities in which it is harvested and shipped to markets elsewhere in Japan.
In the Japanese diet, all parts of the cetaceans harvested are prized, including the intestine and other organs, cartilage, skin, meat, and blubber. Nothing is wasted, and by means of this practice the rich and diverse regional Japanese food cultures are maintained.

For more information on whaling in Japan, visit:
Institute of Cetacean Research
Japan Whaling Association
Whaling Library - A personal home page focusing on whaling in Japan .
Japan Small-type Whaling Association