One of only four communities in Japan that have continued to hunt and eat whales in defiance of international opposition, the town was already down to a single operating company, Ayukawa Whaling.

The March 11 tsunami that slammed into Japan's northeast coast took most of Ayukawa with it, destroying 80 percent of houses and leaving 400 of its 1,400 residents unaccounted for.

The wave shattered Ayukawa Whaling's storage facility and carried its fleet of three whaling ships hundreds of metres inland where they now lie grounded and impotent.

"This is the biggest ever crisis for us," said company chairman Minoru Ito.

Ito, 74, survived the disaster, along with all of his 28 employees, after they fled to higher ground in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that triggered the tsunami.

The survival of their livelihoods is another matter and Ito said he had already decided to lay everybody off and suspend all whaling operations until further notice.

It was a tough decision. Ito has been hunting whales for half a century and his father was an Ayukawa whaler in the town's boom days.

"For me, whaling is not just culture or tradition. It's part of my life," he said.

The history of commercial whaling in Ayukawa dates back to the early 1900s when three major whaling firms set up in the town, which lies on the eastern tip of Ojika peninsula, bordering the Pacific.

The industry lost ground during World War II, but bounced back with the growing demand for whale meat as a cheap and plentiful source of protein in the lean post-war years.

Temples dedicated to the souls of whales attested to the town's heritage, and tourists were drawn by a whaling museum -- now gutted by the tsunami -- that boasted skeletons, hunting tools, educational displays and a 3-D cinema.

But the industry had long been in decline, especially since commercial whaling was banned in 1986.

Japan has continued to hunt whales under a loophole that allows killing of the sea mammals for what it calls "scientific research", although the meat is later sold openly in shops and restaurants.

Japan's argument that whaling is an integral part of the island nation's culture finds some of its strongest voices among the residents of Ayukawa, for whom the prospect of stopping hunting is inconceivable.

"We should resume whaling at any cost," said 70-year-old Ryoetsu Okumi. "Whaling is my job and my life. If someone takes whaling from me, nothing will be left.

"Anti-whaling groups may be pleased with this disaster, but we will never surrender."

The tsunami came shortly after Japan recalled its Antarctic whaling fleet a month early, citing the threat posed by the militant environmentalist outfit Sea Shepherd.

The group, which says its tactics are non-violent but aggressive, has hurled paint and stink bombs at whaling ships, snared their propellers with rope and moved its own boats between the harpoon ships and their prey.

Okumi's defiance was not shared by all Ayukawa's residents, some of whom said the tsunami had probably dealt a death blow to the town's already ailing whaling operations.

"I'm afraid that not so many people will stay under this kind of condition. It's hard to resume," said retired whaler Taichi Endo, 82.

And despite hopes that the central government will step in and help Ayukawa Whaling get its ships back in the ocean and back to work, local officials were also pessimistic about the future.

"Whaling represents Ayukawa. That's for sure," said Shin Okada, a local government official.

"But facing reality, I have to say the current situation is quite hard."

Greenpeace Japan said its opposition to commercial whaling, including Japan's "scientific research", remained unchanged, but insisted its primary concern was for the victims of the tsunami in Ayukawa.

"We hope all survivors, including whalers, will recover," said spokesman Junichi Sato.

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