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Japan ships leave on whaling expedition in Antarctic through March

Japanese vessels left Friday to conduct what Tokyo calls “research whaling” in the Antarctic Ocean through March. Japan is planning to hunt 333 Antarctic minke whales in its second whaling expedition in the Antarctic Ocean since an international court ruled against the practice in 2014, the Fisheries Agency said. Responding to the International Court of Justice ruling, Japan submitted to the International Whaling Commission a new whaling plan to cut catches of minke whales by two-thirds to 333. In fiscal 2014 through March 2015, the country only conducted visual surveys but resumed whaling based on the new plan the following year. Nonprofit organization Sea Shepherd Australia has expressed its intention to block Japan’s whaling, and the agency is planning to monitor the group’s activities from one of its patrol ships. Two whaling vessels — the 724-ton Yushin Maru and 747-ton Yushin Maru No. 2 — left the port in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Friday morning. They will soon join two other whaling ships and the 8,145-ton mother ship Nisshin Maru to form a fleet with 185 crew members in total. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/18/national/japan-ships-leave-whaling-expedition-antarctic-march/#.WC7a3_nNy9I

Japanese Whalers Fined AUS-$1 Million in Australia

Australia has fined a Japanese whaling company $1 million for continuing its illegal whale hunts in the Australian whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean despite a court order ordering it to stop. The $1 million fine was handed down in Australian federal court as part of a contempt case against the Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha. The court found that the whaling company continued to hunt and kill several whales in the Australian Whale over the course of four seasons despite a 2008 injunction ordering the company to stop its illegal practices. The 2008 injunction was imposed following an application by the Humane Society International (HSI). The verdict was handed down the help of an affidavit provided by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Captain Peter Hammarstedt that was submitted as evidence in the case. More at https://gcaptain.com/japanese-whalers-fined-1-million-in-australia/

‘First time in 30 years’: Japan whaling ships return from Antarctic trip EMPTY

Two of Japan’s whaling ships have returned home from Antarctic with no catch onboard for the first time in nearly 30 years, local news reported. The news comes after a UN court ordered an halt to Japan’s annual “scientific” whale hunt. The 724-ton Yushinmaru and the 747-ton Daini (No 2) Yushinmaru returned to port in Shimonoseki, western Japan, which is considered to be one of the major whaling bases in the country, on Saturday. This is the first time the whale-hunting vessels have returned “empty-handed” since 1987, the year Japan started its annual scientific hunt of whales in the Antarctic, according to Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Researchers who took part in the expedition focused on observing marine mammals from aboard the ships. They conducted the survey and only took skin samples of the whales. "By collecting scientific data, we aim to resume commercial whaling," agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in the port city as quoted by AFP.