News Desk
\nTOKYO
\nA Japanese whaling ship returned home to the country\u2019s southwest Friday after almost meeting its annual quota, ending its first commercial whaling season in 31 years.
\nOperator Kyodo Senpaku Co. said its main factory ship Nisshin Maru returned to its home port of Shimonoseki after catching 223 whales during its three-month expedition off the Japanese coast. Nisshin Maru\u2019s two support ships, Yushin Maru and No. 3 Yushin Maru, also returned to their home ports.
\nJapan resumed commercial whaling on July 1 after leaving the International Whaling Commission, promising that the whalers would stay within the country\u2019s exclusive economic waters. Japan had conducted research hunts for 31 years in the Antarctic and the Northwest Pacific that conservationists criticized as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the IWC.
\nKyodo Senpaku President Eiji Mori praised the whalers for returning with \u201cbetter than expected\u201d results despite earlier uncertainty because of their lack of experience in the area.
\n\u201cWe were worried if we could catch any, but they did a great job,\u201d Mori said. \u201cWe will examine the results closely and make a plan for the next season.\u201d
\nOf the quota of 232 whales allocated to the main fleet, they caught 187 Bryde\u2019s, 25 sei and 11 minke whales, only nine minke whales short of the cap. The fleet brought back an estimated 1,430 tons of frozen whale meat from the catch, down 670 tons from last year\u2019s Antarctic hunts.
\nSeparately, whalers operating smaller scale hunts in waters just off the Japan\u2019s northeastern coasts were given a seasonal quota of 33 minke whales. Days after the resumption, their fleet of five small boats returned with two minke whales, whose fresh meat fetched as much as \u00a515,000 ($140) per kilogram at a local fish market auction celebrating the first commercial hunt in three decades.
\nWhile opponents condemn Japan\u2019s commercial whaling, others question if the embattled whaling program can survive changing times and tastes.
\nWhale meat was an affordable source of protein during the lean times after World War II, with annual consumption peaking at 223,000 tons in 1962, but whale was quickly replaced by other meats. Today, annual consumption was down to about 4,000-5,000 tons, according to the Fisheries Agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk TOKYO A Japanese whaling ship returned home to the country\u2019s southwest Friday after almost meeting its annual quota, ending its first commercial whaling season in 31 years. Operator Kyodo Senpaku Co. said its main factory ship Nisshin Maru returned to its home port of Shimonoseki after catching 223 whales during its three-month expedition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n