Japan starts research whaling in coastal waters off northeast Japan

Jumat, 19 April 2013 01:06

(ISHINOMAKI-Kyodo) A fleet of four whaling ships left Ayukawa port in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Thursday to start their seasonal hunting of minke whales for research purposes in coastal waters in northeastern Japan.

The whalers plan to catch up to 60 minke whales in waters off the Sanriku region through early June, fishery industry officials said.

They will dissect the whales caught and analyze their gastric samples to research the mammals' impact on the marine ecosystem.

The whaling ships will stay overnight at Ishinomaki port, not Ayukawa port where breakwater reconstruction has yet to be completed after the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster.

Researchers will check radioactivity levels in whale meat in the wake of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

If radiation levels are found to be below the government-set standard, the whale meat will be put on the market, the officials said.

The Association for Community-Based Whaling conducts research whaling every year. The group uses Ayukawa port in Miyagi in the spring and Kushiro port in Hokkaido in the autumn.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 2010 by small-scale coastal whalers and is based in Fukuoka, the biggest city in southwestern Japan.

During a ceremony marking the departure of the whaling ships that was attended by government and fishing-industry officials, the association's head Yoshiichi Shimomichi said his group aims to resume Japan's traditional whaling in coastal waters.