JAPAN:Japan's whaling fleet in the Antarctic will avoid killing humpback whales for now, but will press on with plans to kill 1,000 other whales by early in the new year, according to a government official.
The move follows Australia's announcement on Wednesday that it would send a fisheries patrol ship to gather evidence for a possible International Court challenge to halt Japan's yearly slaughter. Plans by Japan to include 50 endangered humpbacks in its annual hunt had sparked an outcry from activists.
Popular among whale watchers for their distinctive silhouette and acrobatic leaps, humpbacks were hunted to near extinction until the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ordered their protection in 1966.
"Japan has decided not to catch humpback whales for one year or two," government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said yesterday.
Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith said that while the move was welcome, there was no good reason for Japan to continue any sort of whaling.
Later yesterday, Australia, Britain, France and Germany were among 30 nations who lodged a diplomatic protest with the Japanese foreign ministry over Tokyo's annual whale hunt.
Mr Machimura said the IWC had not been "functioning normally", saying the forum had been distorted by ideology. Japan would suspend its humpback whale hunt while the IWC held talks on "normalising" its functions, but would continue with its "scientific research" whaling.