Whale-killing ship goes halaal

Japan's whaling mother ship has been awarded a halaal certificate to prove the whales it takes from the Antarctic Ocean are slaughtered in accordance with Muslim law, a company spokesman said yesterday.

The Nisshin Maru was certified last year before it headed off to the Southern Ocean for this season's controversial hunt, a spokesman for ship owner Kyodo Senpaku said.

"Special inspectors examined the ship when it was docked in Hiroshima last year," he said.

"It was certified officially on November 24."

The inspectors advised workers on the factory ship to change the disinfectant liquid used for cleaning hands to avoid any possible contamination from the alcohol solution, he said.

"If whale meat, which is a by-product of the research whaling, can be consumed as a good protein source for Muslims in Japan, I think it is a good thing," he said.

The Japan Muslim Association said there were about 100000 Muslims in Japan - less than 0.08% of the population.

The commercial hunting of whales is prohibited in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which was designated by the International Whaling Commission in 1994, but Japan catches the animals there under a "scientific research" loophole. It makes no secret of the fact that the results of the research the programme is carrying out are not readily available.