Japan whaling town gets season's first catch

The season for the Baird's beaked whale, or "tsuchi kujira" in Japanese, opened Saturday at Wada Port just ahead of this year's International Whaling Commission meeting.

Australia and New Zealand are expected to try to persuade the IWC to ban killing whales for scientific studies, threatening Japan's annual hunt near the Antarctic that has sparked violent confrontations with environmental activists.

The hunt for whales off Wada is separate from the controversial, larger scientific hunt — but it underscores Japan's argument that the centuries-old whaling tradition is still part of its culture.

In a highly stylized ritual, whalers sprinkled rice wine over the first whale — measuring 11 yards (10 meters) long and weighing 11 tons (10 metric tons) — to pray for the safe hunting season. They peeled off the whale's thick, black skin with a special saw, chopped its head off to drain blood into a gutter, then cut the hefty animal into thousands of brick-size chunks of meat for the morning market.

Hunting the Baird's beaked whale in the Japanese waters is not restricted by the IWC and is managed by Japan's Fisheries Agency. Officials in the town of Minamiboso, which oversees the Wada region, said they plan to catch up to 26 of the whales during the season, which ends Aug. 31.

The number is negligible compared to Japan's hunts in Antarctica and the northwestern Pacific Ocean, which are allowed under international rules as a scientific program despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption, which critics say is the real reason for the hunt.

Japan's government argues that international bans on commercial whaling violates its cultural traditions.

Whale was widely eaten in Japan until the 1970s as a cheaper alternative to other meats. It is no longer a common food in the country, although meat from the hunt is sold in Japanese supermarkets and upscale restaurants.

"Whale meat has been part of our traditional diet, and it was a great cultural experience," said Hitoshi Watanabe, 50, an office worker who came to watch the Wada whale ceremony. "It was also good learn that we live at the sacrifice of precious lives of other animals."

Whaling at Wada dates back to 1612, town officials say. The town is one of Japan's several traditional whaling hubs.

Militant environmentalists have clashed with Japan's whaling fleet in recent years to obstruct its whale hunt. Earlier this year, activists from the U.S. group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had violent confrontations with Japanese ships in the Antarctic.

Australia and New Zealand last week announced a plan to send a non-lethal research expedition to the Antarctic early next year to eventually seek a new IWC ban on killing whales for scientific study. The international whaling body holds its annual plenary sessions June 22-26 in Madeira, Portugal.

In the latest Japanese hunt that ended in April, its fleet killed 679 minke whales and one fin whale over five months, below its stated goals of up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

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