Japan Proposes Expanding Commercial Whaling to Include Fin Whales

Japan's Fisheries Agency has proposed adding fin whales to its commercial whaling plan, alongside three smaller species, marking a significant step in the country's return to commercial whaling after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission. The proposal, which comes five years after Japan resumed limited commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone, has sparked mixed reactions.

Japan's Fisheries Agency on Thursday proposed a plan to allow the hunting of fin whales in addition to the three smaller whale species currently permitted under the country's commercial whaling operations conducted within its coastal waters. This proposal signifies a substantial development in Japan's return to commercial whaling, which was halted for 30 years under the guise of "research whaling."

The proposal arrives five years after Japan reintroduced commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone following its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in July 2019. Prior to this, Japan had been practicing "research whaling," which was widely criticized by conservationists as a cover for commercial hunts prohibited by the IWC in 1988.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, whose electoral district has a strong tradition of whaling, voiced the government's support for the sustainable utilization of whales as part of Japan's traditional food culture. He emphasized the importance of preserving Japan's traditional food culture and promoting the whaling industry.

"Whales are significant food sources, and we firmly believe in their sustainable use, just like any other marine resource, based on solid scientific evidence," Hayashi stated to reporters. "Simultaneously, we deem it crucial to safeguard Japan's time-honored culinary heritage."

The Fisheries Agency has embarked on a public consultation process regarding the proposed revision to its marine resource control plan, which will run until June 5th. The agency intends to seek approval for the plan at its next review meeting scheduled for mid-June.

The decision to propose the inclusion of fin whales on the list of allowable catch species stems from stock survey results indicating a sufficient recovery of the fin whale population in the North Pacific. Nonetheless, the plan does not aim to increase the supply of whale meat, and whalers targeting fin whales are not subject to a specific quota.

For the current year, the Fisheries Agency has set a combined catch quota of 379 for the three other whale species permitted for commercial whaling. In 2022, the commercial whaling industry operating within Japan's EEZ harvested 294 minke, Bryde's, and sei whales, amounting to less than 80% of the quota and considerably lower than the numbers hunted in the Antarctic and northwestern Pacific under the research program.

Japan's whaling practices have consistently been a subject of controversy and criticism from conservationists, but anti-whaling protests have diminished since Japan terminated its highly criticized Antarctic research hunts in 2019 and transitioned to commercial whaling limited to Japanese coastal waters.

Beyond its EEZ, Japan's whale research is restricted to non-lethal surveys.

During Japan's post-World War II era of malnutrition, whale meat served as an affordable protein source, with annual consumption reaching a peak of over 230,000 tons in the early 1960s. However, whale meat was swiftly replaced by alternative meats, and supply has dwindled to approximately 2,000 tons in recent years, according to statistics from the Fisheries Agency.

Whaling proponents aim to boost whale meat consumption to around 5,000 tons to sustain the industry. Kyodo Senpaku Co., a whaling operator, launched whale meat vending machines last year and has completed construction of a new $48 million Kangei Maru, a 9,300-ton mother ship, which the operator intends to use for sustainable commercial whaling.