On images from the whaling ship Kangei Maru, fishermen equipped with slaughter knives pose with the nearly 20-meter-long carcass. The whale, which weighed at least 55 tons, was killed with a harpoon on August 1. Since then, an additional four sei whales have been caught and killed.
Japan is one of three countries in the world that allows commercial whaling. Earlier this year, the sei whale was added to the list of species that can be caught and killed for consumption. The others are the minke whale, the sei whale, and Bryde's whale.
The sei whale is classified as vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the decision to allow hunting of the mammals has been met with criticism.
At a fair in Sapporo last week, samples of the first bits of sei whale meat were served. A retailer called the meat "exquisite and odorless".
Japan ceased its highly criticized whaling in Antarctic waters and on the rest of the southern hemisphere in 2019. However, commercial whaling was resumed along the country's own coast at the same time. In 2024, Japanese whaling companies are allowed to catch up to 376 whales, 59 of them sei whales.
Besides Japan, Iceland and Norway also conduct commercial – and partially criticized – whaling.
