“It’s going to be carnage,” warns Sea Shepherd France

Despite a global moratorium applied since 1986, Japan continues to fish whales for commercial purposes even though the population shuns this meat. Without mentioning from an ethical and ecological point of view, this obstinacy “makes no economic sense”, denounces the association.

“It’s going to be carnage”, Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, is alarmed on Tuesday May 21 on franceinfo, as Japan launches into the sea a new flagship whaling ship, the “Kangei Maru”, a floating factory 113 meters long, 21 m wide and of 9,200 tonnes. Japan has resumed whaling after a 30-year moratorium. With this sea monster which will accommodate around a hundred crew members, the country wants to revive the consumption of whale meat.

Japanese authorities want to fish nearly 200 cetaceans this year. “From an ethical point of view, it’s dramatic”reacts Lamya Essemlali. “We suspect that Japan has not had a $35 million boat made with such storage capacity and autonomy to hunt only along its coasts”explains the president of the NGO. “They are expected to return to the Antarctic whaling sanctuary, where the Japanese whaling fleet has been fought for years. They have also announced that they will hunt in the North Pacific. It’s going to be real carnage.”she accuses.

Norway and Iceland are the other two countries that still hunt whales, despite the practice being banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission. Lamya Essemlali rejects the argument from centuries-old tradition: “We are not talking about a question of tradition, even if that would not legitimize the return of whaling, we are talking about a political question,” she explains. According to her, “we have a handful of ultra-right nationalist individuals who are clinging to something that is in the interest of a handful of people that makes no economic sense.”

The Japanese government has launched campaigns to encourage young people in particular to consume these cetaceans: “We must keep in mind that very few Japanese eat whale meat,” she clarified. Japan’s decision is “from an ethical and ecological point of view, completely aberrant. In 2024, continuing to hunt whales is completely crazy”she asserts.

The NGO Sea Shepherd is preparing to resume harassment of Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic. “We have driven them out of this sanctuary. It is a victory. We expect to see them return there. We are already working on the return of our ships to the whaling sanctuary”, she warns. “Once again, despite years of lobbying and marketing campaigns, the consumption of whale meat is not taking off in Japan, they are not succeeding. Culture is a pretext. It is a purely political question “insists the activist.