By TOMOYUKI YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer
April 3, 2025 at 16:07 JST
A minke whale caught off the coast of Hokkaido is unloaded at Nemuro Port on April 1. (Tomoyuki Yamamoto)
NEMURO, Hokkaido–This year’s commercial whaling of minke whales has begun off the coast of eastern Hokkaido, with the first catch of the season being unloaded here on April 1.
The catch was a female minke whale measuring 8.1 meters in length and weighing 5.2 tons.
It was caught about 15 kilometers off the coast of Nemuro in the Sea of Okhotsk by a whaler from Ayukawa Hogei, a fishing company based in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
The whale was transported to the larger port town of Kushiro, where it will be processed and prepared for market. It is expected to be available in supermarkets across Hokkaido within a few days.
“This one has rich fat, making it the most delicious,” said Nobuyuki Ito, 62, president of Ayukawa Hogei. “Enjoy it as sashimi.”
The company plans to capture 16 more whales by late April.
Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.
According to the Fisheries Agency, this year’s catch quota for minke whales is 144, with 111 allocated for the Pacific Ocean and 33 for the Sea of Okhotsk.
Japan commercially hunts three other species of whale.
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