Whales targeted by Japan face extinction threat

One of three species Japan has targeted in resuming commercial whaling Monday is threatened with extinction, and sub-populations of the other two are severely depleted as well, according to experts.

After pulling out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the end of last year, Japan announced it would allow 227 of the giant sea mammals to be harpooned within its territorial waters -- extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its coast -- before the end of December.

The commission's 1986 moratorium on whaling forbids all whaling, though a trio of countries, including Japan, flouted the ban through loopholes while remaining within the IWC.

Japan's new self-arrogated quota -- which could be renewed or changed next year -- includes 150 Bryde's, 52 minke and 25 sei whales.

One of these species, the sei, is listed at "endangered" on the International Union of the Conservation of Nature's Red List, which has assessed the conservation status of some 100,000 animals and plants.

The sei -- at 20 metres (645 feet), the biggest of whales after the blue and the fin -- was the main target of Japan's ostensibly "scientific" whaling from the early 2000s until 2017.

The Red List classifies Bryde's and minke whales "of least concern," meaning they are not currently threatened with extinction.

But these assessments obscure a more nuanced reality that could spell trouble for sub-groups of the species as well, according to Justin Cooke, a long-standing member of the IWC's scientific committee and a member of the IUCN's Cetacean Group.

"There are two types of minke whale exploited off the coast of Japan," he told AFP.

"The one found in coastal waters -- in the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea -- is quite severely depleted due to a long history of catches by Japan and South Korea."
"Japanese scientists insist that there is only one (population) in the whole North Pacific," said Cooke. "But they have only collected data from the offshore area."