Taiji Dolphin hunt extended by one month

InsideJapan.com: Taiji Dolphin hunt extended by one month

The whaling town of Taiji has announced that it will be extending its annual dolphin hunt by a month through to the end of May, resulting in around 200 long-finned pilot whales being caught.

Following this ruling by the Wakayama prefectural government, a group of local fishermen caught up to 60 long-finned pilot whales and auctioned them off at the end of last week, Kyodo News reports.

The fish are part of the dolphin family and their meat is highly profitable as it can be used to make sashimi.

Although coastal whaling will be suspended this year for the first time since 1988, due to the number of fishing boats ruined by the March 11th earthquake, the local authority has allowed drive hunting to continue for one month longer than usual.

This controversial practise involves driving the cetaceans into a bay before killing them, and it was brought to light in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.