Half the dolphins 'drive hunted' in Japan were exported despite international criticism of the practice

Nearly half the dolphins caught in drive hunts in western Japan since 2009 were exported to China and other countries despite criticism of the hunting technique overseas, according to data confirmed by Kyodo News.

The drive hunt practice, used for decades in the coastal town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, has been criticised as cruel and recently prompted an international association of aquariums to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Jaza), forcing the Japanese body to ban its domestic members from acquiring drive-hunted dolphins.

Jaza issued the ban last month after the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza) threatened to expel the Japanese body if its members continued to purchase such dolphins.

In drive hunting, fishermen capture dolphins by herding them into coves by banging metal poles against their fishing boats. The practice has spurred international controversy, especially after the Oscar-winning 2009 US documentary film The Cove showed the bloody slaughter of dolphins.

According to data from Japan's Fisheries Research Agency, 760 live dolphins were sold between September 2009 and August 2014 after they were caught off Taiji.

The Finance Ministry's trade statistics show 354 live dolphins were exported to 12 countries during the same period, including 216 to China, 36 to Ukraine, 35 to South Korea and 15 to Russia. One dolphin was exported to the United States.