A CLAIM by Japan that whales eat more of the oceans’ fish than people do is
set to stir up a row at next month’s meeting of the International Whaling
Commission in London.
Japan hopes to use the results from its controversial “scientific” whaling
programme to convince fishing nations to vote for the resumption of whaling to
help protect their fish stocks, says Joji Morishita of the Japanese government’s
Fisheries Agency and a delegate to the IWC.
The unpublished findings, seen by 91av, come from last autumn’s
scientific slaughter of whales in the north-west Pacific. As well as minke
whales, the catch included Bryde’s and sperm whales for the first time. Japanese
anchovy made up more than 70 per cent of the stomach contents of the 43 Bryde’s
whales killed during the seven-week hunt. Anchovy, walleye pollock and Pacific
saury made up 90 per cent of the diet of the 40 minke whales taken. “These are
all important fisheries for Japan,” says Morishita. “Anti-whalers say they only
eat krill and squid, but we can show otherwise.”
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Cetacean scientists from outside Japan are sceptical of the claims, however.
“It’s an open question right now whether whales damage fisheries,” says Russell
Leaper, a marine biology consultant to the IWC based in Edinburgh. “Even if they
are eating fish, it doesn’t mean there is direct competition. I think the
Japanese are jumping the gun, but it is something the IWC scientific committee
will want to look at.”
Japanese fish catches have halved since the IWC imposed an international
moratorium on commercial whaling 16 years ago, says Morishita. “We don’t say
whales are the only reason for depressed fish stocks, but whales are major
components of the marine ecosystem. So we think there may be some
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Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research last year estimated that whales could
be eating between 250 and 440 million tonnes of fish a year—between 3 and
5 times the amount caught by the world’s fishing fleets. “We consider that, at
least, there is probably direct competition between cetaceans and commercial
fisheries in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic,” says the institute’s
Tsutomu Tamura.
Japan has abided by the IWC’s moratorium on commercial whaling, while still
taking a limited catch for “scientific research”. Opponents claim they are
simply exploiting a loophole in the IWC rules. Now the country wants to be able
to resume commercial whaling of abundant species such as minke.
“Some whale stocks, such as blue whales, are in need of protection, but a
blanket moratorium is not scientifically justified,” says Morishita. He calls
the moratorium “emotionally and politically inspired”, and contrary to the
treaty establishing the commission, which requires that whale stocks are
“scientifically managed”.