Japan wants to discuss whaling with Australia

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's foreign minister said on Friday he wanted to discuss whaling with his Australian counterpart after Canberra said it would send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Tokyo's whaling fleet near Antarctica.

Australia said on Wednesday it would send the ship to gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt Japan's yearly slaughter.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura defended Tokyo's whaling program, saying it was in line with international treaties and he saw no problem with it.

"I would like to speak with (Australia's) foreign minister in some form soon," Komura told reporters. "We will try to seek each other's understanding."

Japan's whaling fleet set sail last month with plans to catch more than 1,000 whales before returning to port early next year.

Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, abandoned commercial whaling in accordance with an international moratorium in 1986, but began what it calls a scientific research whaling program the following year.

The Australian Embassy said it would deliver a document on whaling along with other embassies to Japan's foreign ministry on Friday, but declined to disclose the contents of the document or say how many other countries were involved.

Whale meat ends up in Japanese supermarkets and restaurants, although the public appetite for what is now a delicacy is waning.

Some experts say Japan fears that limits on whaling will lead to limits on all Japanese fishing, while others argue the whaling campaign is a form of nationalist diplomacy.

(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Mike Miller)