Japanese whaling: the real pirates and terrorists in the Southern Ocean

Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said the whalers were the true pirates, with the Japanese losing all credibility of the so-called scientific research program and facing a crew rebellion. "It's obviously the Japanese government recognising it's losing the PR battle," he said. "The old story, when you're losing the argument, vilify your opponents." according to an AAP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In an open letter (PDF)  http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/collision1.pdf Hiroshi Hatanaka, Director-General of The Institute of Cetacean Research in Japan has accused Greenpeace of piracy and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of being a terrorist organisation. The letter to Greenpeace Japan, dated 27 December and published on The Institute website, stated that Greenpeace "pursue our research vessels; your crewmembers disregard the international law of the sea and repeatedly engage in the illegal and dangerous hindrance of our research activities in the Antarctic."

There are big signs on the Japanese ships that say "research". But the research they do has been brought into serious question as bad science, with flawed methodology, lacking publication and review by scientific peers. They accuse others of flouting international law, when they choose to slaughter whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary put in place by the nations of the International Whaling Commission. They dress up the slaughter of whales for commercial sale and consumption as "science" which amounts to hypocrisy of the highest degree.

"Your organization continues to put in danger the lives of your crews by trying to board our vessels. In short, these actions amount to piracy." he said.

I have seen no attempt to board Japanese vessels, and in fact have seen violence perpetrated on the activists, such as fire hoses aimed at people in inflatables, and attempts to club them if they venture too close. All because they choose to disagree with whaling and choose to place themselves between the explosive harpoon and the targeted whales. No, the true piracy being undertaken is by the Japanese whalers in using violent methods for material gain: prosecuting the hunt in an internationally recognised whale sanctuary, the slaughter and sale of whale meat for commerce, under the absurd title of 'scientific research'.

"Furthermore, any escalation of Greenpeace's violent activities would correspond to piracy as defined by Article 101 of the United Nations Law of the Sea." he threatened.

The whalers have already shown their capacity for violation of maritime law in ramming the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza on 21 December. Initially they characterised the event as initiated by Greenpeace, but clearly this is at odds with eye witness statements and photos. This is clearly shown in the transcript of the ABC radio AM program on December 22:  http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1536220.htm

Agency spokesman, Hideki Moronuki, has accused the captain of the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza, of deliberately ramming a Japanese research vessel.

HIDEKI MORONUKI: It seems like piracy so I strongly, cordially hope that Greenpeace refrains from such kinds of dangerous actions immediately.

KAREN BARLOW: But Greenpeace rejects the allegation of deliberate aggression. The expedition leader, Shane Rattenbury, is speaking on a satellite phone from the second Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise.

SHANE RATTENBURY: I was in the ship immediately behind the Esperanza and I saw it myself and it was quite clear that it was the Japanese vessel that changed course and crashed into the Esperanza.

KAREN BARLOW: But the Japanese are actually accusing Greenpeace of piracy.

SHANE RATTENBURY: Well, as I say, that's simply ridiculous in the circumstances and we completely reject that under international navigation rules. Where the two ships were positioned it was the Japanese vessel that broke those rules and clearly the collision was their fault.

KAREN BARLOW: Despite international protests, Japan has this year more than doubled its planned catch of Minke whales to 935 and has added for the first time Fin whales.

In regard to the Sea Shepherd Hatanaka accused "The Sea Shepherd boat, the Farley Mowat, has already foolhardily tried to approach the Nisshin-Maru and deployed a mooring line with the intent of entwining her propeller. These are extremely dangerous actions."

You only receive half the information in the accusation above. Captain Paul Watson detailed how the Nisshin Maru turned on a collision course ignoring the right of way of the Farley Mowat. This amounts to violation of maritime law, intimidation, and a threat of violence and damage to the Farley Mowat and her crew. Watson described the encounter:

The Nisshin sped up as the Farley Mowat came alongside. A few moments later the factory ship turned and came towards the Farley Mowat despite the fact that the Farley Mowat on the starboard side of the Nisshin Maru had the right of way.

Both ships were on a collision course and the Nisshin Maru's bow was plunging high out of the water as she came at full speed towards the Farley Mowat.

Captain Watson ordered a mooring line deployed behind the Farley Mowat. As soon as the Nisshin Maru saw the line they turned and backed off to avoid their prop being fouled.

Hiroshi Hatanaka concluded: "Sea Shepherd is a terrorist organization - their members use threats of violence, sabotage and an open disregard for human life in furthering their cause. From your recent activity and acknowledgement on your websites, I can only conclude that Greenpeace is colluding and co-operating with Sea Shepherd; that you have recognized Sea Shepherd and are proclaiming to the international community that Greenpeace itself is kindred to the same violent and eco-terrorist approaches that Sea Shepherd is well-known to undertake."

It seems to me it is the pot calling the kettle black. The accusations that Hiroshi Hatanaka levels at others are to divert attention from the inherent violence of the Japanese whaling program. The only terrorist organisation in the Southern Seas is the Japanese whaling fleet and their intimidation of other shipping, violation of maritime law, and violation of international treaties on whale conservation to persevere with a cruel and inhumane slaughter for commercial gain. http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/102640_comment.php#102669

Greens Senator Bob Brown said "The Japanese should call their fleet home and (Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro) Koizumi ... must bear total responsibility for any human injury that's added to the whale slaughter that his government is encouraging in our Antarctic waters. The only piracy happening down there is the piracy of the world's whales, and illegally, by the Japanese."

It is now incumbent on the Australian Government to ensure the laws of Australia, and international treaties are upheld in the Australian Antarctic Territory, and they should despatch a naval vessel to observe and police the area. If John Howard is so keen on protecting our borders and economic interests, Australia must do it without favour and apply the same standards to the Japanese Whaling fleets as it is applied to Indonesian fishing boats in Australian waters.

Besides possible breaches of maritime law that the Japanese ships have committed, the following crimes are being committed by the Japanese whaling fleet:

1. The Japanese are whaling in violation of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium on commercial whaling.  http://www.iwcoffice.org/index.htm The IWC scientific committee does not recognize this bogus research that the Japanese are using as an excuse.
2. The Japanese are killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
3. The Japanese are killing whales unlawfully in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
4. The Japanese are targeting fin whales this year and humpback whales next year. These are endangered species, and thus, this is a violation of CITES,  http://www.cites.org/ the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
5. The Japanese are in violation of IWC regulation 19(a) The IWC regulations in the Schedule to the Convention forbid the use of factory ships to process any protected stock: 19. (a) It is forbidden to use a factory ship or a land station for the purpose of treating any whales which are classified as Protection Stocks in paragraph 10. Paragraph 10(c) provides a definition of Protection Stocks and states that Protection Stocks are listed in the Tables of the Schedule. Table 1 lists all the baleen whales, including minke, fin, and humpback whales and states that all of them are Protection Stocks.
6. In addition, the IWC regulations specifically ban the use of factory ships to process any whales except minke whales: Paragraph 10(d) provides: ?(d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10 there shall be a moratorium on the taking, killing or treating of whales, except minke whales, by factory ships or whale catchers attached to factory ships. This moratorium applies to sperm whales, killer whales and baleen whales, except minke whales.? Fin and humpback whales are both baleen whales and are subject to this moratorium.

Out at sea on December 27 there was a force 11 gale and winds of 40 knots, twith the Esperanza managing to keep the whalers on the run for three days now. The Artic Sunrise caught up briefly on the 26 December but has now fallen behind as the whalers set off once more at speed. Hunting has been poor due to the gale with only five mincke whales caught on the 24 December.
links-
Sea Shepard site
 http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_051224_1.html
greenpeace blog from 1 of their ships there
 http://weblog.greenpeace.org/oceandefenders/archive/sowhales/index.html#003510
Sea Shepherd Intercepts Japanese Whaling Fleet
 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/102565.php