SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi -- Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd., the only whaling operator in the world that uses the mother ship method, is building a new vessel in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to replace its aging mother ship.
Maintaining this method, in which a fleet of vessels centered on a mother ship hunts large whales, is expected to help maintain Japan's whaling industry. However, the prospects are dim for operators to whale in the open sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
"Unless a new mother ship is built, we cannot pass on our whaling culture to the next generation," said Kyodo Senpaku President Hideki Tokoro, 68.
