Welcome to IKAN
Now is the Chance to Change to Non-lethal Research
End Research Whaling Funded by the Wasteful Injection of Public Funds
Research whaling started out as a measure against the whaling moratorium in 1986 to revive commercial whaling. The research program continued with the sales profit of the whales they killed, as well as government subsidies, but as it has come to light by Junko Sakuma's report, the system has already collapsed.We hope to see the immediate end to the research whaling that has been guzzling taxpayer's money based on outlandish logic. If they must continue with their research, it is important to remember that there is no need to profit from meat sales. Indeed, Japan is able to contribute to the international community by non-lethal research, leveraging Japan's world-class top scientific technologies and collecting numerous data.
Marine product corporations that were in full-scale operations during the commercial whaling period are now pulling out from whaling in Antarctica one after another. There is simply no reason, or demand, to go to the other side of the globe and carry out research whaling using such a considerable amount of energy. In fact, it is more logical to separate whale meat supply and research whaling completely. If there is an absolute necessity for the meat, it is better to find another way, which costs less money and perhaps able to gain better international understanding.
IKAN hopes that Japan will take this opportunity to play a major part in cetacean research with non-lethal methods.
Please send your opinion for the change to non-lethal methods in research whaling.
Office of Prime Minister http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/iken.html
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries https://www.contact.maff.go.jp/voice/sogo.html
profitable_fisheries_e.pdf (860KB)Research Whaling: Heading Towards Nationalization
Unraveling the Financial Statement of the Unsold Whale Meat -Laden ICR– what’s behind the interception of Disaster Recovery Funds and Profitable Fisheries subsidyJunko Sakuma
(Freelance writer)
(Lead paragraph)
Although the news of the disaster recovery fund (the third supplementary budget for the 2011 fiscal year) inappropriately spent on research whaling finally caught the public’s attention and garnered criticism, the media reported the diverted allocation as a fund for “obstruction countermeasures (against Sea Shepherd),” which is not an accurate description of the actual situation. What really happened was that the money was mostly spent on covering the deficits of research whaling.
Misappropriation aside, this means that whale meat sales still have not improved.
In this issue, we unravel the ICR’s financial statements and the reform proposal they crafted for securing a new money source.
You can read more by the following PDF file.
(540KB)
We Request for an Urgent Review and the Return of Disaster Recovery Fund Used on Research Whaling
We Request for an Urgent Review and the Return of Disaster Recovery Fund Used on Research Whaling
October 5, 2012
CC: The Disaster Recovery Ministry, the House of Representatives Committee on Audit and Oversight of Administration, and the Fisheries Agency
The earthquake and tsunami last March destroyed many local communities and have left a deep scar on the region. Despite various support extended from inside and outside Japan to rebuild the affected areas, their recovery is still far from completion. During such a difficult time, we learned and pointed out that 2.28 billion yen of the recovery fund, money supposed to be allocated to the recovery of disaster-hit areas, was going into research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean - far from North East Japan. We sent a protest letter to the Fisheries Agency requesting the recovery money be spent on support for the effected areas, but we still have not heard from the agency about the details of how 2.28 billion yen of our taxpayers’ money is spent.
Joint Statement - "Please Terminate Research Whaling"
Please Terminate Research Whaling
Prime Minister Kunihiko Noda
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Akira Gunji
Despite the recent criticism on the inappropriate use of the additional recovery fund from the third supplementary budget, research whaling, the operation we have long been questioning, managed to avert attention, and the whaling fleet is said to soon depart for the Antarctic Ocean for this term's quota. We request the end to research whaling and inappropriate measures being taken to impel research whaling. Below is our five demands and reasons:
A Request an End to Research Whaling and the Inappropriate Use of Tax Money
Letter of Request
September 26, 2012
A Request an End to Research Whaling and the Inappropriate Use of Tax Money
The earthquake and tsunami last March destroyed many local communities and have left a deep scar on the region. Despite various support extended from inside and outside Japan to rebuild the affected areas, their recovery is still far from completion. During such a difficult time, we learned and pointed out that 2.3 billion yen of the recovery fund, money supposed to be allocated to the recovery of disaster-hit areas, was going into research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean - far from North East Japan. We sent a protest letter requesting the money be spent appropriately. Unfortunately, the government of Japan is still conducting research whaling with 2.3 billion yen of our taxpayers’ money, with the definite use yet to be clarified.