Japan’s controversial annual dolphin hunt begins

Japan’s annual dolphin hunt, a practice fiercely opposed by animal rights activists around the world, has started in the small coastal town of Taiji.

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The hunting season kicked off in the town in Wakayama Prefecture on Sunday, with 12 boats reportedly setting off at 5am, before returning empty handed later in the day.

The practice, which will continue for around six months, sees fishermen herding dolphins and small whales into a cove with a net, before they are either slaughtered with knives or sold to aquariums.

The town’s annual dolphin hunt was cast into the global spotlight after the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove captured graphic scenes of the slaughter, inspiring a growing number of activists visiting the town to oppose the practice.

Japan’s maritime hunting policies have long been at odds with the international community. The new dolphin season kicked off just months after Japan officially left the International Whaling Commission on June 30, paving the way for the resumption of commercial whaling in July for the first time in 31 years.

Officials in Taiji were reportedly anxious that animal rights activists might attempt to disrupt the start of this year’s dolphin hunting season, as in previous years, according to Kyodo News agency.

Concerns prompted officials to arrange for police officers and personnel from the Japan Coast Guard to be deployed to the area throughout the season.

However, with only around 10 members of a Japanese animal rights group gathered at the port, the first boats set off from the port without obstruction.

“Thanks to the security, we can do (hunting) with ease,” Teruto Seko, head of the fisheries cooperative, told Kyodo News.

The latest hunting season went ahead despite legal action launched in Japan by activists earlier this year attempting to block the practice. The lawsuit, filed in a court in Wakayama, asserted that dolphins were biologically mammals and the cruelty inflicted on them was “illegal” according to Japanese laws.

The Japanese government has defended dolphin hunting in the past, with Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, declaring five years ago that it is a “form of traditional fishing in our country”.

His comments were in response to criticism from Caroline Kennedy, then US ambassador in Japan, with numerous other high profile critics including Yoko Ono.