Japan resumes whaling after 30 years ban lifted

Japan resumed commercial whaling after a ban of 30 years lifted. Japanese whalers returned to port on Monday with their first catch. It was the first commercial hunt since 1988, when Japan switched to what it called research whaling after commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission.

Kushiro:Japanese whalers returned to port on Monday with their first catch after resuming commercial whaling for the first time in 30 years.

The long-cherished goal of traditionalists is seen as largely a lost cause amid slowing demand for the meat and changing views on conservation.

A fleet of five boats left the northern Japanese port of Kushiro earlier Monday and brought back two minke whales. A crane lifted them and slowly placed them on the back of a truck to be taken to a portside factory for processing.

It was the first commercial hunt since 1988, when Japan switched to what it called research whaling after commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission.

Japan gave six months' notice that it was withdrawing from the IWC, a move that took effect Sunday.

The Fisheries Agency said the catch quota through the end of this year is set at 227 whales, fewer than the 333 Japan used to hunt in the Antarctic.

The resumption is condemned by many conservation groups, but others see it as a face-saving way for the embattled whaling industry to come to a natural end.