Despite cruelty claims, town’s mayor vows dolphin hunt will stay
Zoos and aquariums to stop buying mammals caught in Taiji
TOKYO — The fishing town of Taiji will not stop its dolphin hunts, the mayor said Thursday, despite international pressure sparked by cruelty concerns.
“We are hunting under the permission of the Japanese government and prefecture, and so we will continue to protect our fishermen and the methods. We will not quit,” said Kazutaka Sangen, mayor of the small town.
The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums announced Wednesday it would stop buying Taiji dolphins. It had risked being suspended by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which characterized the Taiji hunt as “cruel” and decided that none of its members should acquire dolphins in such a way.
While eating dolphin and whale meat is waning in Japan, some see it as no different from eating chicken or beef. They are puzzled by how the international view on dolphin and whale hunting is so different from that of traditional fishing communities such as Taiji.
In Taiji’s hunt, filmed in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, dolphins are scared by banging, herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. The best-looking animals are sold to aquariums and marine shows for thousands of dollars.
Sangen scoffed at WAZA’s views.
“WAZA gave in to the antiwhaling activists that turned dolphin hunting into an international problem. I believe there was a better way to handle the issue,” he said.
Even if the Japanese group’s 63 member aquariums and 89 zoos stop buying Taiji dolphins, they still could be sold in other places, including overseas marine parks. Taiji also runs an aquarium.
WAZA has more than 1,000 members and has talked with the Japanese aquarium group about the Taiji hunt for more than a decade.