OUTRAGE OVER WHALING ... #2 <cont>

To change the subject to a more serious note -- what exactly is the status of the Whaling Ships and their environmentalist stalkers under international law? If the Whaling is legal-ish as "scientific" under the Whaling convention, isn't what the activists do at least in the broad perimeter of piracy? Could Japan have military vessels escort their Whaling ships, and have the military shoot the activists down? Rainbow Warrier style, only on the high sea?

Yes, MsOlga. You've made it perfectly clear how confusing it all is.

The conservation organisation said that if the OFCF's loans dried up, the manager, the Institute of Cetacean Research, would be in financial trouble. The sale of whale meat by the institute falls short of whaling's costs.

The Government led by Yukio Hatoyama came to power in September promising to tackle bureaucratic waste, and any move against the OFCF would come at a critical point in the long-running whaling dispute.

With the International Whaling Commission unable to produce a diplomatic breakthrough, US environmentalists say the issue is on the agenda for President Barack Obama's visit to Tokyo this weekend.

But if the whaling fleet sticks to its usual schedule, it will leave within days to hunt in the waters near the Australian Antarctic Territory, where heavy clashes with Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activists are again expected.

A Japanese parliamentary review panel targeted the 80 billion yen ($A960 million) given to the OFCF for all of its fisheries programs on Thursday at one of its first public hearings.

Greenpeace campaigner Junich Sato, who attended the hearing, said that the panel wanted to revoke 70 billion yen of the funding, but did not discuss which parts should stay. Its recommendations are to be finalised in time for the government to prepare the 2010 budget in December.

''We cannot say that this will end whaling, but the fact that they will talk about removing this money is a hopeful sign,'' Mr Sato said.

A 2008 investigation by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper found that the OFCF had propped up the Institute of Cetacean Research with yearly interest-free loans of around 3.6 billion yen since 2001, but the institute had been unable to pay them back in full.

Japan's powerful fishing industry has succeeded for decades in arguing that for the country's food security, it must keep access to high seas marine resources, including whales.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said the meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Hatoyama offered an unprecedented opportunity to make real progress on the whaling issue.

''They're both sons of the Pacific,'' said IFAW's whales campaign director, Patrick Ramage. ''One was raised in Hawaii, the other represents Hokkaido. Both represent change.''

The visit by President Obama and next week's APEC meeting are expected to delay the whaling fleet's usual mid-November departure for the Antarctic.

This year's hunting plan has not been disclosed yet, but it is likely to include a take of up to 935 minke whales. Humpback whales that migrate in winter along the Australian coastline are not expected to be included.

Sea Shepherd's two ships are expected to depart from Fremantle in early December.