WHAT IS JAPAN TRYING TO HIDE?

The Fisheries Agency of Japan blacked out large sections of its whale stock, contradicting a pledge keep the contracts and sales of the government-funded whaling industry open, transparent and public. Greenpeace has lodged a complaint and anti-whaling activists around the world are pressuring Japan's embassies for full disclosure on whale meat stocks.

DENMARK BLOODY DENMARK!

On the fence about killing whales? Stomach this!

S.KOREA LEADS RETURN TO COMMERCIAL WHALING

South Korea announced that it is going to resume commercial whaling and is seeking a permit from the International Whaling Commission. The request will be considered at the IWC's annual meeting in Portugal this June. Activists had feared the deal to allow Japan to commercially slaughter whales along its coast in exchange for reduced hunts in the Antarctic would open the door to more hunting. It now seems only a matter of time before other whaling countries follow suit.

COVERUP: GOVT. SUPPRESSES WHALING VIDEO

The Australian government has permitted the viewing of only a fraction of a video showing Japanese slaughtering whales in the Antarctic this past summer, fueling suspicion of a growing collusion between the two countries. The footage was obtained by a Customs vessel. Even Greens Senator Bob Brown was thwarted from viewing the entire footage under the Freedom of Information laws. The Rudd government has been accused of brokering a secret deal that would allow Japan to harvest more whales along its coast for reduced kills in the Antarctic. Release of the video, activists suspect, would annoy the Japanese and threaten the back room deal.

SOUTH KOREA THREATENS TO KILL WHALES

South Korea has indicated it wants to resume whaling if the IWC permits Japan to increased coastal whaling in exchange for scaling down its Antarctic hunt.

“This would open the floodgates for commercial whaling,” a manager from the Marine Science Program told Reuters in Rome. Korean whaling used to supply Japan with whale meat before the 1986 moratorium, after which Korea received a “scientific” quota of 69 whales but has since complied with the global ban. If South Korea follows through on its threat to resume hunting, particularly threatened would be minke whales which are accidentally caught in fishing nets and then sold as food.

“We should be closing the loopholes that permit whaling rather than creating new loopholes,” said Nicolas Entrup, spokesman for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

JAPAN FINDS NEW WHALING ALLY IN AUSTRALIA

Following an allegation by the Japanese ambassador to Canberra, Takaaki Kojima, that Sea Shepherd violated maritime laws when the anti-whaling group challenged the Japanese whaling fleet, the Australian Federal Police raided Sea Shepherd's vessel Steve Irwin. Australia was exposed recently for secretly trying to broker a deal between the US and Japan--one that would allow Japan to slaughter more whales along its coast for reducing hunting in the Antarctic. But the Australian Federal Police action against Sea Shepherd suggests a growing collusion with Japan and a stunning about face by Australia, until now anti-whaling cause's strongest ally.

COMING THIS JUNE: COMMERCIAL WHALING

After a three days of meetings in Rome, the International Whaling Commission emerged with a change in direction that could threaten the safety of whales forever. A Small Working Group of member countries is proposing a resumption of commercial whaling. This deal could be approved by the full IWC at its annual meeting on the Portuguese island of Madeira as early this June.