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A humpback whale jumps out of the waters off Hawaii. Japan is dropping its plan to kill protected humpback whales.
AP file photo
TOKYO — Humpback whales are safe — at least for now.
Giving in to U.S. pressure and worldwide criticism, Japan’s government on Friday announced a whaling fleet now in the Southern Ocean for its annual hunt will not kill the threatened species as originally planned. The fleet will, however, kill some 935 minke whales, a smaller, more plentiful species, and 50 fin whales.
Japan dispatched its whaling fleet last month to the southern Pacific off Antarctica in the first major hunt of humpback whales since the 1960s. Commercial hunts of humpbacks have been banned worldwide since 1966, and commercial whaling overall since 1986.
The fleet was to kill 50 humpbacks for scientific research. But the plan generated immediate criticism from environmental groups, which oppose the hunts to begin with but were outraged by the inclusion of humpbacks because they are so rare.
“Whaling issues tend to become emotional, but we hope that the discussion will be carried out calmly on the basis of scientific evidence,” chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said in announcing the halt.
It was a stunning turnaround for Japan.
The U.S., which currently chairs the International Whaling Commission, recently held several rounds of talks with Japan to seek a one- to two-year suspension of the humpback hunt.
“We applaud Japan’s decision as an act of goodwill toward the International Whaling Commission,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
But he added that Washington and Tokyo still have “opposite views on research whaling.”
Tokyo has staunchly defended its annual kill of more than 1,000 whales as crucial for research purposes. Japan’s whaling fleet is run by a government-backed research institute and operates under an IWC clause that allow the killing of whales for scientific purposes.
Japan said it would halt the humpback hunt pending further IWC discussion.
“But there will be no changes to our stance on our research whaling itself,” Machimura said. “We have made the decision for the benefit of the IWC as a whole.”