WDCS has learned that the town of Futo, Japan will conduct its drive hunt operations this season. Futo had suspended operations in 1999, only to resume its hunt in 2004 with the capture of over 100 bottlenose dolphins.
On October 11th, the Ito City Fishing Cooperative-Futo Branch announced that they would carry out the drive hunt this season. According to the Cooperative, aquariums have already placed an order for 30 bottlenose dolphins from the Ito City Fishing Cooperative. Approximately 20 fishing boats with 40 fishermen will participate in the drive hunt this season, and spotter boats will go out to sea and try to find pods of dolphins if necessary.
The Japan Fisheries Agency permits Futo to take 600 dolphins in these annual hunts, consisting of 70 striped dolphins, 75 bottlenose dolphins and 455 spotted dolphins. According to locals, pods of dolphins were seen off the shores of Futo three weeks ago.
WDCS was hopeful that this relatively brief cessation in hunting would be a permanent trend in this small village, especially since the establishment of dolphin watching opportunities by a former dolphin-hunter of 27 years, Mr. Izumi Ishii, who now takes visitors on trips to view whales and dolphins, instead of killing them in the drive hunts.
The revitalization of the Futo hunt to meet the demands of the aquarium industry is an unfortunate turnaround for a town that was becoming better known for its dolphin watching opportunities than its hunting.
In Taiji, the hunt season resumed a month early on September 6th with the driving of over 25 bottlenose dolphins into Hatakejiri Bay. Six of these dolphins were purchased by the Taiji Whale Museum, and the remaining dolphins are presumed to have been slaughtered.
The hunting season in Futo runs from September 1 to March 31. In Taiji, the hunting season runs from October 1 to April 30.
Please write to the new Prime Minister of Japan to express your concerns and call for an end to these brutal hunts:
