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A few days ago (12th February) I noted that the Asahi Shimbun had reported that the Japanese whaling industry has been operating at a considerable loss. Well, I've managed to track down the orginal article and its very revealling.

The article states that the Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese Government quango of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is 'struggling to pay back its interest-free loans to the government'.  In 2006 the ICR failed to pay back 1 billion yen, and the Government were forced to extnd its loan period through 2007 to 2010.

In its accounts for 2006 the ICR reports a loss of 700 million yen.

The Ashai Shimbun reports that incresed crticism within Japan is now being seen as people begin to further question the Japanese Government's insistance on maintaining an unprofitable industry with tax payers money    

Several years ago WDCS raised concerns about the issue of suspiciously high levels of Mercury and other contaminants in whale and dolphin meat products available in Japan. However, Japanese officials seemed committed to ensuring that nothing would disrupt their zealotry in trying to get commercial whaling endorsed; for some not even the safety of their own people seems to have been an issue. Now others are willing to speak out and take responsibility for their countrymen.

At a time when some governments seem as committed to give in to Japanese blackmail (we shall kill more whales – like humpbacks, if you don’t give us what we want - is how it normally goes) it should be remembered that Japan is changing and that pro-conservation governments simply have to hold strong and Japan will change around them, even if its leaders are still stuck in the past.

The International Herald Tribune is reporting on the debate in Taiji where, at the urging of two town council members, schools promised to stop serving pilot whale for lunch, and some local supermarkets removed it and dolphin from their shelves.

The article notes the reluctance of the Japanese press to cover the issue, but the true impact is what the article goes on to say, that even in this bastion of whaling, ‘Most of those under 40 no longer eat the meat, according to many residents. "We're not saying that consumption of dolphin should disappear, but I think it's inevitable that it will," said Ryono, the council member. "As the older generation disappears, so will demand for dolphin meat."’

It would seem that no only is whaling an anachronism to us in WDCS, it seems the Japanese public are just not buying the Government’s arguments, or the whale meat, either. After several years of trying to promote the sale of whale meat the The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), responsible for Japan's lethal so-called "scientific whaling", is flooding Japan with cheap whale meat that it cannot sell, according to the reports in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.  

WDCS has been advocating for several years that the subsidies used for whaling were a waste of taxpayers money and indeed creating a false impression of demand in what was actually a declining market.

Norway did the same in the 1990s, but it would now seem that the Japanese ministries may not all be on the same side. Maybe the Finance Ministry has run out of patience with their colleagues in the Fisheries Ministry and their crusade to impose whaling on the world. The same Japanese media reports suggest that the ICR is struggling to repay $37 million in government subsidies.

Any other business would be bust by now. So just accept the truth ICR, you are out of the whaling business. Maybe you could make more money from whale watching! WDCS would be happy to help the transition.

There is poetic justice in last night’s football results;

Wales 3 : Norway 0

 As a Welshman, that makes me rather happy.

Whilst we have talked in this column about the UK Governemnt potentially allowing noisy and disruptive exploration in especially fragile dolphin habitats in the UK, the US Governemnt has been trying to overturn all scientific and legal measures to prevent its Navy from operating unhindered in the use of potentially damaging sonars.

A US judge has just ruled that the US Navy must adhere to a curb on the use of strong sonar in waters off California. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper overturned an exemption granted last month by President George W Bush.  The US president had cited national security when he ordered the Navy's submarine detection exercises should go on.

I always thought the military were about protecting us and our chosen way of life. For me thats also means protecting the enviornment around us. So good for a judge who knows when a Presidential move to limit such protetction rubs up against this fundamental balance of liberty and security. Its a balance between our liberties to peacefully enjoy the natural world around us, whilst also allowing those who are there to protect us to do so without sacrificing the first for the latter.

I think a lot of Naval personal might just agree.