Australia warns Japan of backlash over whale hunt

Japan risks a worldwide backlash over plans to expand its annual whale hunt, Australia warned on Tuesday in a letter to Japan's prime minister, but Tokyo vowed not to bow to foreign pressure.

The letter upped the ante in a growing furore over reports that Tokyo will nearly double its catch of minke whales and add two new species to its hunt, including the humpback, a popular tourist attraction in Australian waters.

Prime minister John Howard urged Japan to reconsider its position in a letter to counterpart Junichiro Koizumi, but a Japanese Fisheries Agency official said its whaling is scientific research and Tokyo has no intention of giving in.

"We are conducting our surveys according to science," said Takatori Nagatomo, adding that he did not know the details of Howard's letter. "It is not commercial whaling.

"We aren't thinking of changing our whaling plans just due to foreign pressure."

Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy, abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 in line with an international ban, but began hunting whales in what it calls scientific research whaling the next year. The meat ends up on store shelves and on the tables of gourmet restaurants.

Howard said there was "no basis" for killing whales for scientific research.

"There is clear evidence of the extent of public interest in the continued health and welfare of whales and considerable public concern could be expected, not only in Australia, but across the globe, were whaling to increase," Howard wrote.

The letter risks a diplomatic row with Japan, Australia's biggest export destination, at a time when Australia is pushing for a free trade deal with Tokyo. Australia ranks fourth as a supplier of imports to Japan and bilateral trade is worth about $A39 billion ($NZ42.1 billion) a year.

Tokyo will submit its expanded whaling plans at an annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in South Korea next month.

Australia is lobbying for international support to knock down the proposal at the meeting. Australia's embassy in Tokyo is organising a joint protest by anti-whaling nations against Japan.

Japan and other pro-whaling nations have become increasingly frustrated by what they see as a growing anti-whaling slant to the IWC's annual meetings, especially after the 2004 meeting ended with a small but significant victory for countries that want to maintain the whaling ban.

Japan blames whales for declining fish catches, saying they consume such vast quantities of fish that they have contributed to a huge drop in fish landings.

Howard's letter comes as the first migrating whales of the southern hemisphere winter were sighted in warm waters off the major Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

More than 2000 humpback and southern right whales migrate north along Australia's eastern coastline each winter to breeding grounds in warmer waters, before heading south to colder feeding grounds again from September to November.

Howard said the whale migration attracted 1.6 million tourists a year to Australia's coast. Australian national parks officials said up to four whales an hour passed some popular whale-watching sites.

Foreign minister Alexander Downer told Australia's Parliament on Tuesday that Australia would continue to work with anti-whaling nations ahead of the IWC meeting.

"While stock numbers remain under threat, it's clear Japan's whaling programme cannot be described as science," Downer said.

- REUTERS