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Japan and Australia said Wednesday they were doing everything they could to diplomatically resolve an emotionally charged dispute over whaling, though officials' remarks showed divisions remained deep.
Japan's fleet set off Monday to the Antarctic Ocean with plans to slaughter hundreds of whales despite strong opposition from Australia and New Zealand, where whale-watching is a popular pastime.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith discussed the issue with his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone ahead of a meeting of Asia-Pacific ministers and leaders in Peru's capital Lima.
Smith said "it is a difficult issue between our two countries" but stressed that "we continue to apply all diplomatic means" to address the disagreement.
He told reporters he and Nakasone both believed "that the disagreement over whaling should not become an issue that is out of proportion to the fundamental strength of the bilateral relationship."
Nevertheless, Smith said, Australia was determined to "press the point" about its opposition to whaling.
A Japanese foreign ministry official privy to the discussion confirmed that both countries were employing diplomacy in the row.
He also affirmed that Smith had sought to distance the Australian government from militant environmentalists who have vowed to stop the Japanese hunt by force.
"Foreign Minister Smith stressed that the Australian government is making a clear distinction from the illegal action taken by anti-whaling groups," the official said.
When Nakasone asked Australia to crack down on anti-whaling activists, "there was no particular reply from the Australian side," the official said.
During the last Antarctic hunt, activists from the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society tracked down and hurled bottles of chemicals at the fleet to disrupt operations, leading Japan to label them "terrorists."
Japan kills some 1,000 whales a year using a loophole in a 1986 global whaling moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants.
Tokyo makes no secret that the meat ends up on dinner tables and accuses Westerners of insensitivity to its whaling culture. Only Norway and Iceland defy the whaling moratorium entirely.
On Monday, Australia unveiled a scientific research program aimed at convincing Japan that it is not necessary to kill the mammals to study them.
Smith said that, if Japan's interest in the whales was genuinely for scientific purposes, "you don't need that to be lethal."
© Wire reports
21 Comments
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OssanAmerica
The way the economy is going all over the world, we might end up competing with the Japanese to eat those whales outselves.
tkoind2
Sink the whaling fleet. Problem solved.
smithinjapan
Ossan: Good one!
tkoind2: Agreed. The only reason the Japanese are happy about being 'diplomatic' is that they can go back to their denial about doing anything wrong without having to face any consequences or opposition; I mean, they certainly don't listen to what other people have to say when it's criticism or a suggestion they don't wish to hear.
nigelboy
First step you need to do is to remove yourself from IWC. Your presence is like a vegeterian being a member of the National Cattleman's Beef Association.
neverknow2
I'm pretty sure that is defimation and not just expressing a point of view.
Disillusioned
Out of proportion? WTF? You are hunting whales against international law and using scientific research as a guise to do so. What sort of proportions are you talking about? Fool!
nigelboy
IWC
Article VIII
1.Notwithstanding anything contained in this Convention any Contracting Government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit authorizing that national to kill, take and treat whales for purposes of scientific research subject to such restrictions as to number and subject to such other conditions as the Contracting Government thinks fit, and the killing, taking, and treating of whales in accordance with the provisions of this Article shall be exempt from the operation of this Convention. Each Contracting Government shall report at once to the Commission all such authorizations which it has granted. Each Contracting Government may at any time revoke any such special permit which it has granted.
2.Any whales taken under these special permits shall so far as practicable be processed and the proceeds shall be dealt with in accordance with directions issued by the Government by which the permit was granted.
Molenir
Not against international law, Disillusioned. It may be a loophole that allows Japanese whaling, but it is legal. To be honest, I don't know why people get so bent out of shape over this. Particularly when there are other countries out there actively engaging in commercial whaling, and 'slaughtering' even more whales then Japan does. I mean, its not like the species of whales being hunted are endangered.
fatloser
TRANSLATION---Japan hires Australia to KILL whales!!
letterman
A note to fellow Australians in the forum. Japan is hunting Minke whales now, which are far from endangered -- if you think so, show me the numbers.
Now. Australia however is hunting the "southern bluefin tuna", which is a "critically endangered" species of fish. Smack of just a tad bit of hypocricy?
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-08-03.asp or http://snipr.com/1vvks
Ironically Australia exports the product to Japan. Should our approach to "endangered species" depend on whether our jobs and export income are at stake?
Finally, any guesses on the annual size of the whale-watching industry in Australia? US$ 3 billion, sweet folks. Nuff said.
letterman
As for whales, should we wait until they die and are on the ocean bed? Will your dad pay for finding these whales at the bottom of 2 miles of ocean and dragging that carcass out of the water for research?
cleo
letterman.
cummon then, educate us on how medical research on animals (including humans) includes obtaining bodies by blowing a hole in the body with an exploding harpoon then letting said body drag said harpoon and attached boat through the water for up to an hour until said body gives up the ghost.
This is not medical research. It's researching how many whales can be killed without pushing the species to extinction. At least that's what Japan claims. What it actually is is commercial whale hunting - researching how many whales they can kill before Sea Shepherd finds them.
Heda_Madness
Perhaps it's time for Japan to leave the IWC. And then they can stop the research that people find so offensive and then kill as many whales as they like.
Problem solved.
nigelboy
"Perhaps it's time for Japan to leave the IWC. And then they can stop the research that people find so offensive and then kill as many whales as they like.
Problem solved."
Or perhaps Australia should leave the IWC.
"The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which was signed in Washington DC on 2nd December 1946 (Click HERE to view full text). The purpose of the Convention is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry. "
Quote from the Kangaroo official.
"Nevertheless, Smith said, Australia was determined to “press the point” about its opposition to whaling."
Athletes
Whales are kings of the ocean & eat a lot of smaller fishes. It there is no whaling anymore, there will be less fish in the ocean. If there is less fish, not good for human. Extreme & unlimited whaling is not good & cruel. However limited whaling is a part of conservation for preserving the wildlife. It is also part of the marine biological research.
Why cannot limited whaling be called as conservation too? Nature need the balancing act for sustainablity.
Heda_Madness
That's worth repeating as some people don't really understand that. Or if they do, they choose to ignore it.
thedeath
blaming the whale for the decreasing of the smaller fish stock in the ocean? do the whaler really care of the fish number or they are just too ill-responsive to admit that they are the real bad guy hurting the ocean? yeah keep the over fishing habit, keep dumping our garbage to the sea, we can blame it all the animal later.
i can see this people keep swing the point from doing a research of which they don't even know what research they are doing, to cultural in which their traditional hunting-ground and hunting tool had no where near the southern ocean and look nothing like what they are using today! and later go to make a point of control the whale number to increases the smaller fish number, but refuse to control their way of over-fishing, over-consuming, and the way they dump garbage to the sea!
can japan volunteering cut its consumption of tuna by half to help blue-fin and yellow-tail stocks rebound? (NO-WAYYY let finish off the whales first then we can fine another victim!)
Pretty sure some japanese here understand that human are the one hurt the ocean the most, but they just choose to ignore it since blaming the animal is easier!
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20060628sh.html http://www.internationalwhaleprotection.org/A9.html
spudman
athletes: your argument lacks logic. the oceans were balanced and then whaling for by products wiped them to the point of extinction. The Japanese whaling in the southern ocean is a political move to stiffen up the loins of old conservatives who are romantic about the good old days.
letterman
Cleo: Sorry, I dont check these forums often. It's necessary to kill some whales (5-6 a year, so let's not make it a huge issue) BEFORE they die. You didn't read my note, so I'll try again:
If we could collect whale cadavers for research, we most definitely would. Problem is, the logistics are inane.
So we must kill them in water. Net them so they don't sink. Then, perhaps harpoon them. Of course we'd like to follow your "humane" approach and offer the whales perhaps a petite painless little poison pill, but somehow we've still to figure out a way to make this happen.
cleo
letterman -
I see you only started posting today. I wonder who you were before.
Why is it necessary to kill 5-6 whales a year? You do know that Japan kills hundreds, even with Sea Shepherd on their tail? and what's this about 'netting' whales?? We're talking whales, not trout....
My 'humane' approach, by the way, does not include any little poison pills. My humane method would be to just leave the darn things alone. A bit of whale-watching if you like. No touching, no netting and no harpooning.
Your post to Spudman is so far off the target I'm beginning to think you're either a troll or have no idea at all of how the world works. Or maybe both. The whales are not in anybody's garden eating children nor are they sitting on the front porch waiting to eat the occupants of the house. Do you have any idea what the whale argument is about?
ptolemy
Until the international community and the IWC take a stand against Japan this will be the case. Australia claims it happens in their waters and does little more than issue strong letters. The IWC has threatened to change the scientific research clause, and has yet to. People get upset and Japan thumbs their nose, and in the process more whales die. It seems Japan is saying, "So what are you going to do about it?" So, I say the same thing, what is anyone going to do about it?