(Half a) Whale of a Time

Japan is reporting a lower-than-expected haul caught during its controversial whaling season. The Japanese Fisheries Ministry reports that the Antarctic fleet – which docked back in Tokyo this morning – reeled in just 551 minke whales, falling short of the target of 900. Japan’s yearly minke whale catch has hovered around the 550 mark since the early 1990s, and only really shot up in 2005 – when the quota blew up to over one thousand.

Whether this season’s poor result was due to the intrusive and highly publicised efforts of ‘Sea Shepherd’ anti-whaling group (as the Japanese Government say), or because whales themselves are becoming scarce (say Japan’s Greenpeace), one thing’s for sure – whale on Japanese dinner plates is going to have to stretch a little further this year.