The slaughter of dolphins has begun again in a small Japanese village, in a controversial annual hunt that pits Western environmentalist values against what locals say are traditional hunting practices.
Taiji, a coastal town of 3,500 people in the Japanese prefecture of Wakayama, has a dolphin hunting season from September to March every year.
Local fishermen are permitted by the Wakayama prefectural government to hunt an annual quota of nearly 2,000 dolphins and porpoises from seven different species, in accordance with what the government says is a traditional practice.
Most of the dolphins are killed for their meat, but many are sold live to aquariums around the world.
In recent years, the Taiji dophin hunt has become a focal point for activists, particularly since the release of the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Cove, which documented the hunt and raised awareness of Taiji’s dolphin hunting industry internationally.
Conservationist group Sea Shepherd has had a presence in Taiji during hunt season for the past five years, broadcasting from the village via a livefeed, and mobilizing a social media campaign against the hunt. The campaign has drawn celebrity and other high-profile supporters.
It said that residents viewed dolphins and whales as a legitimate marine resource, and that the hunt, a local tradition, was integral to the town’s economic survival.
Sea Shepherd is particularly opposed to the method used to herd and capture the dolphins, a technique known as “drive hunting” which Sehgal described as “barbaric.”
But Japanese defenders of the hunt maintain that the hunting of dolphins and whales has been a traditional industry and economic lifeline since the 17th century.(PL)