Japanese fishermen vowed Wednesday to continue their dolphin hunt, despite a pledge by zoos and aquariums not to buy animals caught with the controversial method, AFP reported.
“We will never stop it,” Yoshifumi Kai of the fisherman’s cooperative in the western Japanese town of Taiji, where the hunt takes place, told reporters.
The press conference came a week after Japan’s zoos and aquariums voted to stop using dolphins caught by the so-called “drive hunt” method, as demanded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Some dolphins are captured alive and sold to aquariums, fetching about 1 million yen ($8,300) each.
The vote was prompted by WAZA’s suspension of the Japanese chapter (JAZA) last month over the issue.
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