BY JUNKO KANEKO

About 1000 years has passed since people began whale hunting along the European coasts in the nine to ten centuries. There are various regulations in the present whaling societies to reflect on the past over-hunting. It is still prohibited to catch humpback whales, blue whales, fin whales, and sei whales which live in the Antarctic Ocean because large-size whales were captured intensively and the number of these species has decreased rapidly. In 1984 the IWC (International Whaling Commission) was established. The purposes of the commission are preservation, control, valid use of whale stocks and the orderly development of the whaling industry. The IWC has 39 member nations at present. A few member nations such as Japan and Norway insist on resuming whaling; Iceland was one of the nations which had been whaling since ancient times, and also desired to resume whaling. After its 1992 secession from the IWC, however, Iceland has not resumed whaling. China, Korea, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, etc. are neutral nations. About 30 other member nations are anti-whaling. There is a growing sentiment that whaling should be banned all over the world since the resolution of a moratorium on commercial whaling was adapted by the IWC in 1982. However, Japan, along with several countries and districts, still catch whales for several reasons, as follows.

There are four kinds of whaling at present. One of them is aboriginal subsistence whaling. People who live in five districts in America, Russia, etc. are allowed to continue whaling to preserve their living. They capture under 200 whales a year on average. The second is commercial whaling by Norway. Norway carries out commercial whaling with the permission of the IWC, so they capture 500 to 600 minke whales in the North Atlantic Ocean each year. The third is whaling by nations which are not members of IWC. Some inhabitants who live in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Canada capture about 500 whales a year.

The last one is research whaling by Japan. The International Whaling Control Regulation, which created the IWC in 1948, was established and signed in 1946. Its eighth provision says "To capture, kill, and dispose of whales for scientific research is allowed." Therefore, Japan continues whaling according to the provision. According to the data of Fisheries Agency of Japan, Japan began whaling research with the approval of IWC in 1987. In 2000 Japan conducted four expeditions; whale capture research in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, none-capture research around the Bonin islands, whale capture research in the southern Pacific Ocean, and whale capture research in the Antarctic Ocean. The objects of the research were minke whales, Bryde's whales, sperm whales and blue whales; the research resulted in the capture of about 500 whales in 2000. This research is contributing to some elucidation of the number of live minke whales, the ecology of blue whales, and the ecosystems of individual sea areas and is a part of the ongoing studies of the IWC Scientific Committee.

On the other hand, Japan is denounced by anti-whaling countries, "Japanese research whaling is only nominal; they capture more than they need," and, "Japanese people are a barbarous race who have a habit of eating whales, which are dear and highly intelligent. " At the 52nd IWC annual convention held in 2000, the Scientific Committee highly evaluated Japanese research whaling, but after that, at the general conference, anti-whaling nations submitted a resolution to require Japan to stop whaling research. Japan severely denounced the resolution saying, "This resolution infringes upon the right which is given member nations to carry out whaling research stated in the eighth provision of the International Whaling Control Regulation. Besides, this resolution disregards the view of the Scientific Committee." Nevertheless, enthusiasm against whaling is rising among hostile non-governmental organizations such as Green Peace.

Japanese people have been living mainly by fishing from ancient times because Japan is surrounded by seas, and there were a lot of seaside towns and villages which became enriched by whaling. Taking this into account, whaling must be regarded as part of Japanese culture. In fact, reckless whale hunting was caused by the fact that Japan gradually changed the whaling system from its old style of small-scale hunting into the modern style of large-scale hunting. Japan, at present, has also begun to cooperate about the preservation of whales. It is regrettable that a lot of people in the world regard Japanese research whaling as only nominal. I am not sure that the number of 500 is really necessary for research or not. However, if it is obviously necessary, Japan must report to and appeal to the people of the world of the importance of its research. Anyway, I sincerely hope that whaling shall remain a part of Japanese culture in a way that will allow the international community to consent to it.