
Japan says whaling a right, some species "rampant"
15 Sep 2004 13:12:33 GMT
TOKYO, (Reuters) -Whaling is a Japanese right and some whale species are so abundant they are "rampant," posing a potential threat to the ecological balance of the oceans, a key Japanese fisheries official said on Wednesday....
"There are so many robust whale stocks, such as minke whales, the sei whale, the Bryde's whale," Komatsu told a gathering of journalists and officials in Tokyo.
"Sperm whales are rampant. They may be around twice the number of minke whales," he added...
....Komatsu once famously called minke whales the "cockroaches of the sea".