Japanese Ships Face Arrest After Court Decision

Following a court decision today, the Japanese whaling fleet led by the factory ship ‘Nisshin Maru’ faces arrest if caught in Australian waters.

The fleet of six ships is at present on a ‘scientific’ expedition to cull a thousand whales in the Southern Ocean.

The ships are reported to have been hunting in and around the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The sanctuary was created to help whale populations recover from the commercial whaling of the past century.

In a court case begun against whaler Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd in 2004, the Humane Society International sought a Federal Court injunction against harvesting whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in Antarctic waters.

It has been claimed that the company has slaughtered 1253 minke whales and nine fin whales since the sanctuary was declared in 2000, in breach of Australian domestic law protecting the animals.

The former Howard government opposed the court action on the grounds that it could cause a diplomatic dispute with Japan, and the action was derailed in 2005 after then Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock intervened.

The full bench of the Federal Court ordered the proceedings to resume in 2006, and Labor voiced support for the HSI action ahead of the election, with new Environment Minister Peter Garrett promising to enforce a ban on whale slaughter in the sanctuary.

In handing down his decision, Justice James Allsop said that, unless restrained, the Japanese company would continue to “kill, injure, take and interfere with” Antarctic minke whales and fin whales.

Justice Allsop also said that unless the ships entered Australian waters, it would be difficult to enforce the court order.

Meanwhile, the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza is continuing to chase the fleet out of the area, while the Sea Shepherd group is also shadowing the fleet.

Captain of the Sea Shepherd, Tom Watson, said he had no problems in damaging the Japanese fleet’s equipment to stop them from hunting whales.

The ship collided with a whaler during last year’s hunt.

An armed Australian customs vessel is in the area to gather photographic and video evidence for a possible legal challenge later.

The Australian government is reported to also have an Airbus jet with Australian Antarctic scientists observing the hunt.

Article Sources And Recommended Links:

Japanese Whalers Fall For Photo Opportunity Trick

Japanese Take Protesters Hostage

Greenpeace Confronts Whaling Fleet While Australia Dithers

Japanese Take Protesters Hostage

Sydney Morning Herald – Stop The Hunt.

Federal Court ruling – News Ltd.

Greenpeace Finds Whalers – News Ltd

Please Note: This post is intended to be a summary of the stories on these websites.

It is by no means a full account of the whale hunt and actions taken against it so far.

For full information, I recommend that you check these sites!