LONDON, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is urging Japan's new government to recall its whaling fleet which is heading to Antarctica to cruelly hunt almost 1,000 whales.

In defiance of global pressure and a number of international laws, the government of Japan's whaling fleet has left harbour and is now en route to the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary to harpoon up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales.

Despite a worldwide ban on commercial whaling, Japan hunts whales in Antarctica under the loophole of "scientific whaling". However, very little research is produced and with expanding hunt quotas and whale meat on sale in supermarkets and restaurants, this is clearly commercial whaling by another name.

"Prime Minister Hatoyama came to power promising a sea change in Japan's domestic and international policies. But with whaling, it's the same old story - government bureaucrats pushing sham science while turning the sea red," said Patrick Ramage, IFAW's global whale programme director. "We urge the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Okada to recall the Japanese whaling fleet and chart a new course for 21st Century whale conservation."

The future of whaling is among issues due to be discussed at a closed-door meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Seattle, Washington, USA next month. Japan has previously announced it would suspend plans to harpoon 50 humpback whales while talks continue, but it is not suspending the rest of its so-called "scientific" whaling programme.

Japan's whalers have killed 9,394 whales in the Southern Ocean since 1987 when they first used the cover of "scientific research" to get around the international whaling ban.

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Notes to Editors:

Legal analyses by international panels of independent legal experts convened in Paris, London and Sydney have found Japan's expanding whaling to be in violation of several international laws and treaties. These include IWC regulations, the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

A group of six IWC countries including Japan will meet behind closed doors in Seattle from December 4 to continue negotiations on the future of whaling. IFAW is concerned that such closed-door negotiations could lead to the lifting of the ban on commercial whaling in some form.

The ban on commercial whaling needs to be strengthened, not weakened, as whales around the world face more threats than ever before from whaling, ship strikes, entanglements, pollution and man-made ocean noise.

An IFAW report released earlier this year showed that the total economic value of the whale watching industry worldwide now tops US $2 billion. www.ifaw.org/whalewatchingworldwide

About the International Fund for Animal Welfare - As one of the world's leading animal welfare organisations, IFAW has representation in 16 countries and carries out its animal welfare work in more than 40. IFAW works from its global headquarters in the United States and focuses its campaigns on improving the welfare of wild and domestic animals by reducing the commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats and assisting animals in distress. IFAW works both on the ground and in the halls of government to safeguard wild and domestic animals and seeks to motivate the public to prevent cruelty to animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the well-being of both animals and people. Visit www.ifaw.org

SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare

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