A fleet of vessels will depart from Kushiro, Hokkaido, on July 1 as Japan resumes commercial whaling following a three-decade hiatus after the government announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission in December, a local fishery source said Friday.
A fleet of five vessels belonging to six whaling operators — from Hokkaido’s Abashiri, Miyagi Prefecture’s Ishinomaki, Chiba Prefecture’s Minamiboso and Wakayama Prefecture’s Taiji —which have been conducting the last round of Japan’s so-called scientific whaling around Abashiri port since June 1, will embark on the mission.
Whaling operators are making final arrangements with relevant bodies to hold a ceremony the day they set sail from Kushiro, where they will commence their activities for around a week.
Each vessel will then separately fish for Berardius whales off Minamiboso and other areas until around the end of August. They are expected to regather in Kushiro in September before embarking to hunt minke whales until October.
