Japan, one of three countries with highly controversial commercial hunting, along with Norway and Iceland, has added the fin whale to its list of possible prey, which already includes minke, minke and sei whales.
55 tons
Footage provided to AFP shows the dead cetacean aboard Japan's new whaling “mother ship” as workers pose next to the carcass for camera and prepare to cut it open with large knives. “This is the first fin whale catch in Japanese commercial hunting since 1976,” said Masuo Ide, a spokesman for whaling company Kyodo Senpaku.
The male, harpooned by smaller vessels on August 1 off Japan, measured 19.61m and weighed at least 55 tonnes, he said. The crew of the Kangei Maru, a ship launched in May, cut up the carcass and then froze and stored the meat on board.
Fin whales are considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Four more fin whales were hunted from this catch. Fin whale meat was served in the northern city of Sapporo last week, and a wholesaler told local media it was “delicious, no smell”. “It changed my perception of whale meat,” he added. The whaling company is planning another tasting in Tokyo on Friday.
Up to 376 whales
Japan, which considers whale meat an essential source of protein in the years after World War II, left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019. It has since resumed open commercial whaling, only in its own maritime space.
This year, the government authorized whalers to capture up to 376 whales, including 59 fin whales out of an estimated 19,299 in its waters and economic exclusion zone (EEZ).