Anti-whaling activists curb Japanese fleet's kill in Antarctic

Violent clashes with animal rights groups and fewer whale sightings forced Japan's whaling fleet to head home from the Antarctic with just over half of its permitted quota of whales, officials in Tokyo said Monday.

The whalers, who were chased for much of their hunt by activists' boats, were to begin sailing home Tuesday with 551 minke whales. They had originally planned to kill up to 935 minke and 50 fin whales.

Japanese whalers hunt under an internationally permitted research program, despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Critics say the research program is just commercial whaling under another name.

"We did not have enough time for research because we had to avoid sabotage," a statement from Japan's Fisheries Agency said, referring to the protesters.

The fleet last year had also planned to kill 50 humpbacks in the Antarctic for the first time in decades, but was forced to abandon that in December in the face of protests by the United States and other governments.

Anti-whaling activists — many from the group Sea Shepherd — clashed with the Japanese fleet throughout the season, blocking their path and pelting boats with containers of rancid butter and acid, slightly injuring several crew members. In January, two Sea Shepherd activists jumped onto one of the Japanese ships and spent several days in detention on board.

Japanese officials also said the fleet spotted fewer minke whales than it had in the same area two years ago.

Officials, however, stopped short of concluding there were fewer whales.

"We have to wait for a scientific analysis to determine whether the number is in decline or not," said Shigeki Takaya, a Fisheries Agency official in charge of whaling.

Activists cheered the results of their efforts to block the hunt.

But Junichi Sato, whaling project leader for the environmental group Greenpeace, said even the reduced hunt killed too many whales.

"It is still above the 400 or so they caught about three years ago. So it's a lot compared with several years ago," he said.

Japan's hunt, which provides supermarkets and upscale restaurants with whale meat, has come under increasing international pressure in recent years as Tokyo has expanded its catch.