Japanese whaling fleet sets out

Article from:

AAP

November 17, 2008 07:10pm

THE whaling season has begun with a Japanese hunting vessel leaving port for the Southern Ocean, Greenpeace claims.

The conservation group said the ship Nisshin Maru left the port of Innoshima on Monday.

Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner saying “whaling on trial” as the ship left port.

Japan has set itself a target of about 1000 whales in the Southern Ocean.

Greenpeace International Whales coordinator Sara Holden said the ship left port quietly, without the usual fanfare that accompanies the start of the season.

“Constant pressure on Japan’s whaling industry by both Greenpeace and the international community has reduced the fleet to sneaking out of port in a fog of crisis and scandal, desperate to avoid attention,” Ms Holden said.

Greenpeace will not send out a ship to trail the Japanese fleet, but rival conservation group Sea Shepherd plans to.

The Federal Government sent out a ship last season, but has not said if it will do so this season.

The government has announced it will spend $6 million on non-lethal whale research to show the Japanese you don’t have to kill whales to study them.

Japanese officials insisted there would be no changes to their hunting plans despite international protests and slumping demand for whale meat at home, the Associated Press reported.

Officials said no departure ceremony was planned for this year’s expedition.

“We’ve decided not to hold a departure ceremony or announce the departure for safety reasons,” said Fisheries Agency official Toshinori Uoya.

Read full story here

Despite world opinion protesting the slaughter of whales, and the farcical approach by the Japanese in claiming the killings are for research while buying votes at the International Whaling Commission, Japan is again setting off on yet  another whale hunt to feed the good old boys of Japan  the national delicacy , whale meat from whales killed in an Australian declared  Sanctuary.

The world really needs to put a stop to the senseless slaughter of these magnificent beasts by a country that is willing to sacrifice its honor to do so. Shame on Japan.