Japan had given Dominica, which has a population of 70,000, about 4.5 million for fisheries facilities since joining the IWC, and Japan paid its registration fees at the commission, he said. Tokyo rejected Mr Martin's claims. The Government of Japan doesn't just have a yen for whaling, it has lots of Yen for whaling. Send a letter to the editor of the Washington Post and to the New York Times . The whaling is ostensibly for scientific study, but the fruits of research will wind up for sale in Japanese fish markets.
Whale meat is a prized delicacy in Japan.
The decision by the Japanese this year to add two more species to their annual whale hunt has stirred a storm of protest. The Japanese decision endangers the international framework that has protected the giant sea mammals since 1986, raising fears of a return to the wide-open hunting that drove many whale populations to dangerously low levels. Japanese officials say they need to study whether rebounding populations of sperm and Bryde's whales are eating fish that are also sought by Japanese fishermen. The International Whaling Commission this summer opposed the hunt, saying the stated scientific goal didn't justify killing the whales. Other research aims, the commission said, could be accomplished by nonlethal means.