JAPAN SAYS MINKE NUMBERS ARE BURSTING AND CAN BE EASILY HUNTED SUSTAINABLY. CAN THEY NOT?

(12) JAPAN SAYS MINKE NUMBERS ARE BURSTING AND CAN BE EASILY HUNTED SUSTAINABLY. CAN THEY NOT?

There have been no credible population counts. The population data the Japanese quote are all extrapolations. Scientists admit that there is great uncertainty in the numbers.

Studies of different populations show different growth rates. Studies of the same population using different methods result in different growth rates. Using growth rate and population size as an argument to justify whaling is a tremendous oversimplification of the issue and cannot withstand even rudimentary inspection.

Yet, the Japanese continue to slaughter thousands of whales while making baseless population claims. In fact, the Japanese are slaughtering 50 fin whales and 950 minke whales this season alone.

Minke whales, whom the Japanese tout as plentiful, are actually categorized into two genetically distinct groups: O and J.

"The origins of the minke whales (i.e., whether they had been caught in the Antarctic or the Pacific) were also determined. Several meat samples from Pacific minke whales were found to originate from the endangered population known as the “J-stock."
http://palumbi.stanford.edu/manuscripts/Simmonds%20et%20al%202002.pdf

"Products from the protected East Sea/Sea of Japan (‘J’ stock) minke whales (Balaenoptera acuturostrata) are sold widely on the commercial markets of Japan and Korea despite the protection of this stock since 1986. To determine the minimum number of individual whales for sale, genotypes from six microsatellite loci were used to profile North Pacific (NP) minke whale products purchased on these markets between December 1997 and October 1999. Genotype differences showed that 99 NP minke whale products from the Japanese market represented 86 unique individuals. Of these, 33.7% were of likely J-stock origin based on mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplotypes. In Korea, genotyping showed that 23 NP minke products from March 1999 represented 18 individuals, and 19 products from October 1999 represented 16 individuals. No matches were found between the two sampling periods, giving a total of 34 unique individuals. A frequency-of-capture model suggests that 98 minke whales were present on the Korean market over the two brief sampling periods. No genotype matches were confirmed between the two countries, indicating that undocumented exploitation of this depleted stock must be additive, and greater than previously assumed."
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S1367943002002202

Better Sampling of J Stock Minke Whales. In light of the decline and small current size of the J stock of minke whales (Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea-East China Sea stock), and the LACK OF THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF TOTAL ANNUAL REMOVALS (not originally caps, had to highlight this point), the workshop wished to express support for the concerns raised at the 51st meeting of the IWC Scientific Committee (1999) concerning removals of J-stock minke whales.
http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-286.PDF

The International Whaling Commission considers the western North Pacific to have two Minke whale stocks. The so-called ‘J-stock’ inhabits the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea (Goto and Pastene 1997) and the ‘O-stock’ is found in the Sea of Okhotsk and north Pacific waters. The IUCN review indicates that the J-stock declined by more than 50% in the past from intensive whaling by China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. (Taiwan banned whaling in 1981). O-stock is also thought to be low but it is less depleted than J-stock. Japan continues to hunt North Pacific Minke whales, taking at least 100 (now upped to 950 whales!!) per year under a national permit for scientific research (IUCN). Minke whales are also taken annually as a fishery bycatch in South Korean and Japanese waters. Minke whales sold in Japanese markets are mostly from J-stock (Dalebout et al. 2002). There is concern for the stock’s long-term survival (Baker et al. 2000).

http://www.pwlf.org/minkewhale/conservation.htm


• The IWC has not accepted Japan’s claim that there are more than one million minke whales. The IWC and CITES have recognized
two separate species—the northern hemisphere, Balaenopetera acutorostrata, and the southern hemisphere,B. bonaerensis. The
IWC’s Scientific Committee concluded in 2000 that the abundance estimate for the southern Hemisphere species was “no longer
valid“. There are indications that the actual figure may be as low as 40% of the previous estimate.
• B.acutorostrata is regarded as consisting of two, and possibly three subspecies: the North Atlantic population (B.a.acutorostrata); the North Pacific population (B.a. scammoni (=davidsoni); and the “dwarf” minke whale (B. a. subsps.) which is found in parts of the Southern Ocean.
• In addition to the three minke whale stocks addressed in the Proposal, there are several other poorly known populations of common minke whale, including populations in the western North Atlantic, North Pacific and Northern Indian Oceans.
• Japan claims that the IWC’s Scientific Committee has endorsed a population estimate of 25,000 for the Okhotsk Sea – West Pacific
Stock. However, despite recent reviews of abundance estimates for this stock, its structure remains unresolved. The Scientific
Committee has not yet reached agreement on whether there are two, three or even four populations involved.
• The endangered J stock of minke whale (which numbers approximately 900 animals and is intended to remain on Appendix I) mixes seasonally with the Okhotsk Sea - West Pacific stock (O stock). Market surveys show that significant numbers of J stock whales are hunted in Japan’s “scientific whaling” programme and caught in fishing operations. Trade will cause significant enforcement problems for the visually indistinguishable J stock and may cause its extinction.
• The Northeast Atlantic stock, classified by IWC as a “Protection Stock”, has been reduced to an estimated 45 - 70% of pre-exploitation abundance. The Scientific Committee has not endorsed Japan’s claim of a 2% annual population increase since 1989, nor has it formally accepted an abundance estimate of 107,000 as the Proposal states. In fact, the latest abundance estimates by Norway are lower, albeit within margins of statistical error, than corresponding estimates from 1995 and the IWC continues to examine the issue.
• The Proposal overstates population estimates by as much as 160%. The IWC accepted 28,000 as the best estimate of the North Atlantic Central Stock in 1990 and has not revised this since. Japan refers to an estimate of 72,100 calculated from surveys in 1995, which has not been approved by the IWC.

http://www.ssn.org/Meetings/cop/cop13/Factsheets/SSNCOP13_whales_EN.pdf