Japanese whaling fleet sails again,

[fishb0y]

Since this topic does carry a heavy dose of emotion I would encourage folks to make comments related towards educational activism.

I agree, that's why I support whale meat in Japanese schools. More importantly since I am not Japanese, only married to one, it is not my place to tell her to neglect her heritage, as you would want to.

Are whales beautiful animals, yes. But so are deer, and remember what was happening to them during the early 1900's. If it wasn't for the efforts of conservationist hunters, that species would have become extinct.

Is the population on sperm whales strong enough to sustain hunting? I'm not sure, but I am not going to take the word of GP written on hemp paper, just as much as I'm not going to take the word of the hunters themselves.

 

[H2Andy]

i didn't have much trouble with the Japanese hunting minke. after all, they've
never been endagered, and there's quite a few of them out there.

but i just don't like the idea of endengared whales being hunted, such as sperm
whales. enough already. we've driven them to the brink ot extinction. let's
leave them alone.

as for "heritage," i don't know how many polls are out there shwoing that
the Japanease don't really want to eat whale meat. nobody's buying it.

this is just a government-sponsered fleet trying to keep itself afloat
long after it's become obsolete and irrelevant to the Japanese people.

 

[Mr.X]

I agree, that's why I support whale meat in Japanese schools. More importantly since I am not Japanese, only married to one, it is not my place to tell her to neglect her heritage, as you would want to.

Are whales beautiful animals, yes. But so are deer, and remember what was happening to them during the early 1900's. If it wasn't for the efforts of conservationist hunters, that species would have become extinct.

Is the population on sperm whales strong enough to sustain hunting? I'm not sure, but I am not going to take the word of GP written on hemp paper, just as much as I'm not going to take the word of the hunters themselves.

this is just a government-sponsered fleet trying to keep itself afloat
long after it's become obsolete and irrelevant to the Japanese people.

Skepticism in moderate doses is a healthy. However, feeding whale meat to kids is probably not. Some recent studies have shown a higher degree of toxins in the flesh and blubber. Whale meat tends to be nicely marbled. This data is contained in previous Scubaboard posts from 2005-early 2006 under the Marine Life and Ecosystems forums.

BTW, what is your position here? Please do not confuse the Japanese Whaling fleet with conservationism. Feeding whale meat to Japanese school kids in school is not cultural education. It's a method of moving meat that is no longer fetching top dollar and a goofy way of trying to get kids accustomed to a certain type of food. Knowing how kids in the US "love" school food, whale meat will most likely end up in the bin as the kids opt for McDonald-san.


As per the data - the 2005-2006 fleet has taken endangered species. The recent Antarctic record lists fin whale as a part of the "scientific" study. Catching a few Sperm whale (opportunistically) would probably not be out of bounds under the "scientific" banner that the weak-knee'd IWC hoists.

The information for the diminishing appetite for whale meat can be found in previous archives or at this related link:

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f8a4b8a76bd34dbd64afc8a6c6b7dd11

 

[cbborromeo]

this is just a government-sponsered fleet trying to keep itself afloat
long after it's become obsolete and irrelevant to the Japanese people.

What really ticks me off is that the IWC & the international media still refer to Japanese Whaling as scientific. There's nothing scientific about it really. The Japanese Government buys their IWC votes from Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent-Grenadines {http://www.cdnn.info/eco/e030618b/e030618b.html} so they can sustain an obsolete whaling industry.

I'm all for sustainable development and in the long term. Some very strict fishing regulations have to be enforced in International waters in order to stop the destruction of the seabed, etc. Immediately however, we should pressure these Carribean countries economically by influencing others not to dive or visit these countries. Same goes for Palau and other Pacific Countries that took Japan's bribes.

 

[Seraphimx]

There's something we are missing here. This should profit to someone. Else, this wouldnt be happening. I think that as Japanese economy is special self-centered (meaning that they export more than they import), if there was a need for food (even if people do not like it) they would go hunt whales. Why?

- National Production
- Less Import (less people buying Yen and making it stronger, wich is not good for their exporting economy)
- Distributed to national institutions (ex: schools)

This way they have a source of food, they dont pay much for it and they force it to the people they can force it to. All of this without making the yen go up.

It could be this or my imagination.
Find the cause for this and you find the solution.

Exemple the Inuit hunt seals. Why? Food imported from the big cities costs way too much. Its paying that enormous fee (wich most of the time they cant afford) or take you gun and shoot a seal. If we give them a better option surely they will choose no to shoot the seal.
-

 

[H2Andy]

There's something we are missing here. This should profit to someone.

no, we're not missing it.

it profits the Japanese whaling fleet. as long as they keep fishing, whether there's
a market for whale meat or not, they keep getting Japanese government yen.

it's a government-sponsored industry. as long as they keep fishing (whether they
can sell the meat or not), they make money -- b/c the government gives them money.

 

[Seraphimx]

Yes but why would the gov. sponsor it if its a money pit. Ahhh just throw some money out the window? Dunno seems weird for me.

 

[H2Andy]

ah... why does the US Congress subsidize Archer Daniels Midland's ethanol production
at the tune of $400 million per year (and counting)?

at the same time, the subsidies are costing consumers money. consumers pay an extra 4 to 8 cents at the pump. millions of tax dollars support the fuel additive. fuel manufacturers are kept from making cheaper, cleaner-burning fuels without ethanol.

why?

http://www.perc.org/perc.php?subsection=4&id=637

because ADM contributes to the campaigns of a lot of politicians, and
they are willing to return the favor 10-fold with public money

 

[wardric]

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!"


well... Moby Dick was a sperm whale wasn't it?

 

[Mr.X]

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!"


well... Moby Dick was a sperm whale wasn't it?

In Melville's Moby Dick the antagonist was a white Sperm whale. The protagonist was probably Ahab though the distinctions may not be all that clear. What stands out is that in olde' days that men actually whaled in an environmentally sound and ritual respected manner. They didn't sit bow high with some explosive tipped, pneumatically powered gun firing into a whale run to near dead exhaustion with some overseer gorilla of a corporation slapping you to make quota.

I don't fault harpooners. Most abhor their jobs.