Activists, govts hail Japan whaling halt

Militant conservationists on Friday hailed Japan's decision to halt a controversial whaling mission, while Australia and New Zealand called for a permanent end to the hunts.

Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said Japan's shock withdrawal from the hunting grounds was "great news" after his group's seven-year harassment campaign in icy seas off Antarctica.

"It's great news. We will, however, stay with the Japanese ships until they return north and make sure that they're out of the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary," Watson told AFP.

"Personally I don't trust them, but I will take their word on this and we will follow them out. We're just not going to leave them until we know for sure that they're out of the Southern Ocean."

Australia and New Zealand also welcomed the move by Japan. Last year Australia launched an international legal bid to stop Japan killing whales using a loophole in a global moratorium.

"I'm glad this season is over and Australia doesn't believe there should ever be another whaling season again," said Australia's Environment Minister Tony Burke.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said Japan's decision was a good start but represented only a "temporary stay of execution" for the whales.

"We need to make sure that this is the end of whaling in the Antarctic - for good."

Greenpeace said Australia had to do even more.

"This means working with other countries to investigate vote-buying on the International Whaling Commission and it means applying strong diplomatic pressure during the negotiations of a new free trade agreement with Japan."

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said it was a historic day and congratulated Sea Shepherd for its "great victory".

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully also hailed the decision.

"The New Zealand government and public strongly oppose whaling in the Southern Ocean," he said on Friday.

"Clearly the withdrawal of the fleet is something that we welcome."

"I hope that the early cessation of whaling for this season will allow time for constructive dialogue to resolve the international impasse on whaling issues."

McCully said New Zealand wanted a long-term solution, and its objective was a framework for the permanent elimination of whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Japanese farm and fisheries minister Michihiko Kano said on Friday the Japanese whaling season in the Southern Ocean was being cut short because of harassment by environmentalists.

Japan was calling its harpoon ships home "to ensure the safety of the whaling crew amid the continuing harassment by anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd", Kano said.

Sea Shepherd has had a string of high-seas clashes with the whaling ships, which it tails and pelts with rancid butter stink bombs, while the Japanese have retaliated with water cannon and military-style sonic weapons.

Watson said his group, which has Hollywood support and includes Sean Penn and Pierce Brosnan among its advisers, had strengthened each year while the Japanese fleet had weakened.

"It's been seven very long years. Every year we've gotten stronger and now we're in a position where we have the means to shut them down. That's why they stopped: we physically have prevented them from killing whales," he said.

"And if they come back next year we'll be stronger even more, and we'll be better equipped to stop them even more efficiently. So whether or not they come back next year I'm pretty confident we can keep them from killing whales down here."

Tokyo announced it had suspended the whale hunt, which is hated by environmentalists but deeply embedded in Japanese culture, on Wednesday before calling it off on Friday, citing harassment by Sea Shepherd.

The move comes a year after Sea Shepherd's futuristic Ady Gil superboat was scythed in two during a bitter clash. Its captain was handed a suspended jail term in Tokyo after subsequently boarding a Japanese ship.

"Our tactics didn't change but we had three vessels down here, a new helicopter, better equipment, (and we were) better funded," Watson said.

"Every year we've come down stronger than the year before and they've come down weaker than the year before.

"So it was really that that made the difference. We were able to keep up with them, we were able to deploy a lot more efficiently."

He added that Sea Shepherd's "Gojira" (Godzilla) monohull, which replaced the Ady Gil, had been a major factor in this year's campaign.

"We replaced the Ady Gil with the Gojira which is faster, more manoeuvrable and larger, and it certainly made a big difference in this campaign," Watson said.