Decision postponed on minke hunt off Japan

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 19 (UPI) -- Japan has failed to convince the International Whaling Commission to let it hunt in Japanese coastal waters this year, whaling officials said.

An ITC panel voted Monday to postpone for a year a decision to let Japan hunt in its waters in exchange for reducing or ending what Japan calls "research whaling" in the Antarctic Ocean, Kyodo reported Tuesday.

Despite the ruling in Geneva, Japan will remain a member of the commission, said Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

Japan and anti-whaling countries, such as Australia, disagreed on the number of minke whales that would be killed.

Japan had proposed letting boats from traditional whaling ports in Abashiri, Ayukawa, Wada and Taiji hunt minke whales in nearby waters. In return, Japan would have phased out minke hunts in the Antarctic. Japan has called the Antarctic hunts legitimate under international rules because they research the habitat of minke whales and, therefore, are scientific in nature.

It's estimated Japan kills about 900 minke whales a year in the Antarctic, commission officials said.