Photo/Illutration The Nisshin Maru, a whaling mother ship, in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in July 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

This is the third year since Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019, for the first time in 31 years.

Japan’s whaling expeditions in the past two years have been “commercial” in name only. While the wholesale market for whale meat in Japan has annual sales of about 2.5 billion yen ($22.8 million), the Fisheries Agency provided 5.1 billion yen in state subsidies to the whaling industry last year.

The industry is heavily dependent on taxpayer money for survival.

Kyodo Senpaku Co., the leading company in Japan’s whaling industry, decided to build a new whale factory ship to replace its aged Nisshin Maru in a general shareholders meeting in June.

The plan features a significant cost reduction, with the new vessel expected to be constructed for about 6 billion yen, instead of the originally estimated 10-15 billion yen.

The company plans to raise the funds fully through a combination of lending and crowdfunding. Starting in the current fiscal year, which began in April, the agency has replaced subsidies to the firm with loans.

These measures represent a welcome first step toward weaning the whaling industry from the government’s financial support.

But some questions remain about the future of Japanese whaling. Even though the Fisheries Agency permits commercial whaling only within the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Kyodo Senpaku is considering building a new whaling ship equipped to hunt whales in the Antarctic Ocean.

The firm is working on a blueprint to build a vessel with a long cruising range and a sturdy structure capable of withstanding collisions with floating ice.

When Japan decided to restart commercial whaling, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, now the prime minister, said Japan would not hunt whales in the seas around Antarctica, in an effort to seek understanding from the international community.

Japan should not forget this promise. Japan would undoubtedly face vehement international criticism, particularly from Australia, if it resumes whaling in the Antarctic.

Kyodo Senpaku President Hideki Tokoro says his company’s whalers would hunt whales in the Southern Ocean only during “a food crisis.”

It is unrealistic, however, to think that it would be possible under such a situation to secure the many ships needed to bring whales back from the Antarctic to Japan as well as the large amounts of fuel required to operate them.

Excluding the possibility of whaling in waters around Antarctica would allow the company to slash shipbuilding costs further and increase its chances of gaining financial independence. The firm should reconsider the specs of the planned new whaler by the time it holds bidding to choose the shipbuilder.

There is also much uncertainty about how the ship will be able to operate profitably. The company’s plan to pay back the loan to finance the project is based on the assumption that the agency will permit catching various other whales around fiscal 2024 in addition to the three species of minke, sei and Bryde's whales that can be currently hunted.

Japan has withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission but has been complying with the strict rules for resource assessment set by the IWC as a gesture to indicate its commitment to international cooperation for stock sustainability.

The agency should not add other species to the list just to help the company stay afloat.

There have been no notable international moves so far that signal the feared backlash against Japan’s resumption of commercial whaling.

But the new coronavirus pandemic has prevented the IWC from holding its commission meetings and restricted the activities of anti-whaling organizations.

If Japan wants to ensure the long-term viability of its commercial whaling program, it needs to keep making serious efforts to end the whaling industry’s dependence on government subsidies and win international support.

The Fisheries Agency should use the latest data to reassess whale resources and actively disclose information.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 30

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