Japan uses tsunami relief funds to defend whalers against Sea Shepherds
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2012:
FREMANTLE–Even whalers quoted by The New York Times believed
that the March 11, 2011 tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan
had probably killed the whaling industry–but that was before prime
minister Yoshihiko Noda took office in September 2011.
Noda, from Chiba prefecture, a longtime hub of coastal
whaling, diverted 2.28 billion yen–$30 million–from tsunami relief
and rebuilding funds to quadruple the $10 million annual government
subsidy for “whaling research,” to be conducted by killing from 900
to 1,000 whales in Antarctic waters designated off limits to whaling
by the International Whaling Commission. Read more