Japan's Commercial Whale Hunt Season Begins off Hokaido Coast

Japan landed its first minke whale catch of the year on Wednesday as the commercial whaling season began off the coast of Hokkaido, with two females beached at Nemuro Port, an industry body said.

The two whales were caught off the coast of Hokkaido, while another was caught off the coast of Aomori Prefecture in northeastern Japan, where the hunting season begins in March, said the Japanese Small-Type Whale Hunting Association.

The two whales were about 8.2 meters and 7.7 meters long. The company that caught them said the whales would be processed in Kushiro, Hokkaido and sent throughout the country.

"We managed to catch a relatively large whale, marking a smooth start. We hope people across the country will enjoy it," said Kinya Higashi, operations manager at the Taiji Fisheries Cooperative Association, which jointly carried out the capture, Kyodo News reported on April 1.

It is known that the Land of the Rising Sun officially withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling in the same year.

According to the Fisheries Agency, this year's national catch quota is 145 whales, of which 33 are allocated for offshore waters off Nemuro and the Okhotsk Sea.

For comparison, 88 whales were caught nationwide last year, while the quota reached 144 whales.