Whaling Haul Hits 'Record Low' In Japan

The haul from Japan's whaling mission in the Southern Ocean was a record low this year, a minister has said, blaming what he called the "unforgivable sabotage" by activists.

The hunt netted 103 Antarctic minke whales - less than half last year's tally - and no fin whales.

It was the lowest total since "research whaling" began in 1987.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi blamed the Sea Shepherd environmentalist group, which has tried to disrupt the hunt of the Japanese fleet for several years.

Mr Hayashi said Sea Shepherd had committed "unforgivable sabotage", including a collision with a whaling vessel as it was being refuelled.

"We will seek more support from other countries to conduct research whaling in a stable manner," the minister said.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson is now a fugitive

During the 48-day-long whaling expedition, campaigners disrupted the hunt four times and the Japanese ships spent 21 days avoiding their vessels, the Fisheries Agency said.

Japan's annual whale hunt has long drawn criticism from activists and foreign governments, and Australia has taken Tokyo to court to challenge the legal basis of the research.

Tokyo defends the practice, saying eating whale is part of the country's culinary tradition.

Captured whales, later sold as food, are studied as part of an attempt by Japan's whaling research institute to prove their populations can sustain commercial whaling.

Activists charge Tokyo with using the loophole to get around an international ban on hunting.

Sea Shepherd was founded by Paul Watson, a Canadian marine conservationist who is now an international fugitive.

A Japanese vessel spraying water cannons at the activists

The group is known for its campaigns against whale hunts and shark finning, a practice that involves catching sharks, slicing off their fins and throwing them back into the sea, sometimes barely alive.

It has doggedly pursued Japan's whaling fleet and makes no secret of the fact it employs highly confrontational tactics.

The two sides have clashed violently in exchanges that have seen stink bombs thrown at Japanese crew and water jets trained on protesters.

A year ago, three anti-whaling activists boarded the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No 2 and were held there for several days before being transferred to an Australian customs ship.

In 2010, the ship and a Sea Shepherd speed boat collided and the speed boat sank.

One of Sea Shepherd's ships

The organisation's ships Steve Irwin, Bob Barker and Sam Simon returned from their campaign this year with an estimated $1m (£658,000) damage bill after run-ins with Japanese whalers.

Their fourth ship, the Brigitte Bardot, was at an undisclosed location with Watson, wanted by Interpol after skipping bail last July in Germany, thought to be on board.

Norway and Iceland are the only nations that hunt whales in open defiance of a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.

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