Whaling ship departs Japan after warrant against protest group founder suspended
A commercial whaling vessel has departed from a port in western Japan, setting sail for the Sea of Okhotsk with the intention of hunting a designated number of 25 fin whales.
The ship’s crew, having left Shimonoseki port, has outlined plans to commence their fin whale hunting activities within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
This specific area is located to the north of the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands.
The vessel is scheduled to conclude its current expedition and return to the port of Sendai, situated in the northeastern region of Japan, at some point in June.
Throughout the fiscal year 2025, which will continue until the end of next March, a total of four such commercial whaling voyages are planned.
The collective aim of the ship’s crew is to successfully capture an aggregate of 229 whales, encompassing both fin whales and other species.
This total target represents a slight reduction of one whale compared to the overall number of whales that were caught during the preceding fiscal year.
Japan officially recommenced the practice of commercial whaling in the year 2019, a decision that was made following the nation’s formal withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission, commonly known as the IWC.
Prior to this resumption of commercial whaling, while Japan was a member of the IWC, the country had officially ceased its commercial whaling operations in the year 1988.
However, Japan continued to engage in the hunting of whales under the stated purpose of scientific research.
This particular practice was met with considerable criticism from the international community, with numerous nations and organizations contending that it served as a concealed continuation of commercial whaling activities.
This recent news regarding Japan’s commercial whaling operations coincides with developments concerning Paul Watson, the founder of the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd.
According to information released by his organization, Mr. Watson has received notification from Interpol indicating that a wanted notice issued against him, which pertained to allegations of obstructing Japan’s research activities, has been provisionally suspended.
Sea Shepherd further stated on Tuesday that Interpol, the international police agency, cited the Japanese arrest warrant as being politically motivated as a reason for the provisional lifting of the notice.
A final decision regarding the ultimate status of this wanted notice is anticipated to be made sometime in June or at a later date.
Japanese authorities had previously obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Watson, with the allegations against him including suspicion of assault and other related offenses.
These accusations stemmed from an incident in which he was alleged to have interfered with Japanese research whaling operations that took place in the year 2010. Mr. Watson, who is currently 74 years old, presently resides in France.
In a related matter, Mr. Watson was detained in Greenland, a territory under Danish administration, in the month of July.
However, the Danish government subsequently rejected Japan’s formal extradition request, citing the fact that the allegations against Mr. Watson dated back a significant period of 14 years. Following this decision, he was subsequently released from detention.
Mr. Watson is scheduled to deliver a speech at the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference, an event that is due to be held in Nice, a city located in the southern region of France, in June.
This timing is around the same period during which Interpol is expected to finalize its decision regarding the status of the outstanding wanted notice against him.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun, The Mainichi (English) (A,B)
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