[國際新聞] Tsunami fund 'used for whaling programme'

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Japan has used funds from its tsunami recovery budget to subsidise its controversial annual whaling programme, environmental activists say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16064002



Greenpeace says 2.3bn yen ($30m; £19m) is being used to fund extra security measures for the whaling fleet.

Japanese officials argued when they applied for extra funding that whaling helped coastal communities.

The whaling fleet reportedly headed for Antarctic waters this week, though Tokyo has not confirmed the reports.

There has been a ban on commercial whaling for 25 years, but Japan catches about 1,000 whales each year in what it says is a scientific research programme.

Critics say those claims are just a cover for a commercial operation, and accuse the Japanese of hunting the animals to the brink of extinction only for food.

Activists from the Sea Shepherd group have attacked the fleet as part of their campaign against whaling.

Last year Japanese abandoned its programme before it was completed, citing "harassment" from the group.

Earlier this year, the Japanese Fisheries Agency applied to the government for extra funding for its programme from the emergency budget aimed at helping communities recover from the devastating tsunami and earthquake.

The agency argued that some of the towns and villages affected relied on whaling for their livelihoods.

Activists say the agency's funding request was approved and it has spent the money on extra security and covering its debts.

Junichi Sato, from Greenpeace Japan, told Australia's ABC that there was no link between the whaling programme and the tsunami recovery.

"It is simply used to cover the debts of the whaling programme, because the whaling programme itself has been suffering from big financial problems," he said.

The Australian and New Zealand governments have both criticised Japan's decision to continue whaling.

They are both considering sending vessels to monitor the whaling fleet.

Sea Shepherd activists have promised to carry on their campaign against the whaling fleet.

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New Zealand attacks Japan's decision to resume whaling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15180776

New Zealand has condemned Japan's decision to resume whaling in Antarctic waters later this year.

The New Zealand government described the seas around Antarctica as its neighbourhood, and called Japan's whaling plans "entirely disrespectful".

Wellington also expressed concern at Japan's plans to increase security to protect its whaling fleet.

Last year Japan cut short its whaling season because of harassment from anti-whaling activists.

Japan's Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano said on Tuesday that extra ships would escort the fleet to the Antarctic.
'Lives at risk'

There has been a ban on commercial whaling for 25 years, but Japan catches about 1,000 whales each year in what it says is a scientific research programme.

Critics say it is commercial whaling in another guise.

Japan's fleet sails south to the Antarctic in the autumn each year, returning the following spring.

But last year it returned early, citing safety concerns, after confrontations with an anti-whaling activist group that had followed the fleet south.

The group, Sea Shepherd, has pledged to follow the fleet again this year and obstruct its hunt.

In the past there have been collisions between its vessels and the whaling fleet, and its activists have also boarded Japanese vessels.

There had been speculation that the activists' campaign, budget problems in the wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, and new rules at sea might persuade Tokyo to stop whaling.

But Mr Kano said that this was not the case.

"Japan will conduct the research whaling while strengthening measures against acts of sabotage, including dispatching Fisheries Agency escort ships," he said.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, expressed alarm at recent statements from Sea Shepherd suggesting its vessels could use life-threatening tactics to stop whalers.

"The New Zealand government has consistently urged all parties to act responsibly during the whaling season, and to avoid actions that may put their lives, or the lives of others, at risk, " Mr McCully said.