Whaling: Right or Wrong?

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

but like my sig say "they tast good"

Which says about you, among other things, that you don't know how to spell...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

OK folks ... it's a controversial topic, and you're all entitled to your opinion. But keep it within the ToS.

Discuss it without name-calling ... or you won't be discussing it here.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Henryville]

I like Japan, I like the Japanese, I wish their government would stop supporting this, though. My diving friends in Japan find this embarrassing. Making sweeping statements about a whole nation "not getting it" is unhelpful and naive. How much does the US government "invest in protecting the oceans?" Do we "get it?"

Japan has traditionally needed to rely on the ocean for most of its non-vegetable protein. Beef costs over $30 per pound in Japanese markets as of this month when I checked.

I am not defending in any way taking whales or other marine mammals, but before you rush to judge the whole country on this you ought to try thinking from their perspective and ask yourself how you would view the ocean if you weren't living in a place where massive farm subsudies, unlimited arable land and a huge willingness to shower everything with herbicides, pesticides and hormones are the norm.

 

[gangrel441]

Lord, there's always one. There are a tiny miniscule fraction of the number of whales there once were, thanks directly to overharvest.

I find it disgusting that Japan hunts whales under the guise of research. We're talking about an environmental cause that even Americans can get behind...a rare thing indeed.

I don't like whaling. I don't eat whale. But once again we see this argument...

MINKES AREN'T ENDANGERED. Minkes have a pretty healthy population. The permit in Japan, IIRC, is to take 200 animals. This will not harm the population.

What's so very necessary about eating whale in Japanese culture? They are never willing to budge an inch on this issue. Why can't they eat cow/pig/sheep/goat/deer/llama/etc, etc, etc? Why does it HAVE to be whale? Can anyone explain to me why a culture can't change its eating habits to save some of the worlds' most majestic and endangered creatures??

Gregg

After you cut through the red tape about research purposes, what is really important to the Japan isn't eating whales, it's catching them. It isn't about the food they get from catching whales, it is about the industry that will disappear if they couldn't.

I too wish we could see this practice stop, but there is no easy solution, and right now, it is not a major problem. If they were catching blues or humpbacks, it would be another story, but frankly, if I had a choice between stopping Minke harvesting in Japan and stopping Grouper taking in the Gulf, I would opt to put an end to the taking of Groupers. Much more pressing issue.

 

[mislav]

Can anyone explain to me why a culture can't change its eating habits to save some of the worlds' most majestic and endangered creatures??

I'm with you on this one 100%!

 

[H2Andy]

if I had a choice between stopping Minke harvesting in Japan
and stopping Grouper taking in the Gulf, I would opt to put an end to the taking of
Groupers. Much more pressing issue.

yessir... i know that "stop whaling" sounds sexy, but the Japanese are killing
940 minke a year (and minke are not endangered anyway) and 10 finback whales

killing grouper in the gulf is directly impacting breeding ability, as the larger
animals (the ones most often taken) are the best breeders.

i am, however, concerned with the unnecessary cruelty of harvesting an animal
as large and intelligent as the whale ... i wish it could be done more humanely

also, Japan's claims that this is "scientific" work is crap. this is clearly
commercial whaling in disguise, and i wish they'd just call it what it is.

Can anyone explain to me why a culture can't change its eating habits to save some of the worlds' most majestic and endangered creatures??

i guess the same reason one percent of the world's population can't change its
habits of consuming 25% of the world's energy output... that's the U.S., by
the way

also.... please, majestic the minke may be, but endangered they are not --
they are estimated at 950,000 individuals worldwide, with 116,568 minke
caught by whalers between 1904 and 2000, a fraction of their current
population.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

I am not defending in any way taking whales or other marine mammals, but before you rush to judge the whole country on this you ought to try thinking from their perspective and ask yourself how you would view the ocean if you weren't living in a place where massive farm subsudies, unlimited arable land and a huge willingness to shower everything with herbicides, pesticides and hormones are the norm.

Please understand I would like very much not to rush to judgment, thus my question. Your post was very informative to me, and your comment that your Japanese diving friends being embarassed sounds very familiar to me. Many of my friends are embarassed to be associated with many American policies.

What I do not understand is whether the population of Japan in general supports whaling, and, if not, can they change it? How many jobs can whaling really support in Japan? How many people can it really feed?

 

[gangrel441]

yessir... i know that "stop whaling" sounds sexy, but the Japanese are killing
940 minke a year (and minke are not endangered anyway) and 10 finback whales

killing grouper in the gulf is directly impacting breeding ability, as the larger
animals (the ones most often taken) are the best breeders.

i am, however, concerned with the unnecessary cruelty of harvesting an animal
as large and intelligent as the whale ... i wish it could be done more humanely

100% agreed...but once you factor the intelligence of individual creatures and the amount of suffering caused to those individuals, doesn't this become much more a humanitarian issue than an environmental one?

As we see in this very thread, though, environmentals much like any other activists or politicians will distort the facts until they reach the conclusion they want to support. :shakehead

 

[Captain CaveMan]

Which says about you, among other things, that you don't know how to spell...

Showing everyone that I misses type a word to try to prove that your right about the topic is week....

You must think I am really stupid. Spelling I know is my week area, but hell I don't care.
Its not like I'm taking a spelling test.

 

[gangrel441]

Showing everyone that I misses type a word to try to prove that your right about the topic is week....

You must think I am really stupid. Spelling I know is my week area, but hell I don't care.
Its not like I'm taking a spelling test.

Well said, Caveman!

You're a hell of a diver, too.