Japan expands whaling

[Tzarina]

:sigh: so not cool...

Japan expands whaling despite widespread decry
By Kelly Olsen, The Associated Press
ULSAN, South Korea — Japan said Monday it would dramatically expand its research whaling, doubling the number of minke whales it kills annually for scientific study.
The announcement came on the opening day of the International Whaling Commission's annual plenary session, which also saw Japan and its pro-whaling allies lose a pair of early procedural votes considered a barometer for measuring the balance of forces in the group that regulates global whale hunts.

Japan said it would begin culling as many as 935 minke whales annually — up from 440 this year — in a new program beginning in the Southern Hemisphere later this year. The decision, an extension of the scientific research whaling Japan began in 1987, was expected.

The Cambridge, England-based commission, which has 66 members, banned commercial hunts in 1986, handing environmentalists a major victory in protecting species that were near extinction after centuries of whaling.

Norway holds the world's only commercial whaling season in defiance of the ban, which IWC members are free to reject. Japan says it kills whales to study them before selling the meat, also allowed under commission rules, but which critics say amounts to commercial whaling in disguise.

Japan, Norway and other nations which advocate what they call "sustainable use" of sea resources, including whales, this year are expected to kill more than 1,550 of the mammals.

New Zealand and Australia, as well as conservation groups including Greenpeace, oppose any expansion of whaling. The United States criticized Japan's decision to increase its research whale hunts, calling them unnecessary.

"We don't think it's needed for conservation or management of whales," said Rolland A. Schmitten, who heads of the U.S. delegation, citing advances in technology. The U.S. opposes "lethal scientific whaling," he said.

Japan also said it would add humpback and fin whales to its research culls, the first time those varieties would be included, although catches would annually number no more than 50 each and only after a two-year feasibility study is completed.

In an early setback for their hopes to gain control of the agenda and eventually overturn the ban on commercial whaling, Japan and its allies failed to muster a majority at the start of the five-day meeting in this industrial city facing the Sea of Japan.

A Japanese proposal to delete discussion of whale sanctuaries from the agenda was voted down 29-28. A second one, to introduce secret balloting, failed 30-27. Both tallies were seen as a test of whether whaling advocates had gained the upper hand at the commission.

A simple majority would give pro-whaling countries broad authority to set the agenda, meaning they could pass nonbinding resolutions favoring their stance and expressing support for Japan's research program. However, it would still fall far short of the three-fourths required to overturn the moratorium on commercial whaling.

Japan and its allies, which include poor Caribbean and African nations including St. Kitts and Nevis and Gabon, say secret ballots protect smaller countries from intimidation by larger ones. Japan's opponents, such as New Zealand, Australia and Britain, say secret ballots fly in the face of the need for transparency in international organizations.

Joji Morishita, Japan's chief negotiator at the meeting, took heart that this year's margin of defeat of three votes on secret ballots was smaller than last year's five.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:frown:

[KenKill75]

Fucking scumbags. I say lets nuke em again.

[Tzarina]

:tank:




:nuke:

i think if this is all the respect they have for biodiversity, we should thin human diversity a bit...

[KenKill75]

Too much of this kind of shit happens everywhere. I think its disgustingly arrogant.

[paygee]

:no:

[Tzarina]

let's thin the human gene pool... oh what fun... start with these morons... then kill some child prostitue purveyors in like bangkok...then some game poachers in africa... oh the possibilities are endless :monty:

[paygee]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/paygee/plotting.gif

[phi]

This is sad. I mean, I understand there are things needed to be done for research, but come on a thousand whales dead every year? That sounds like extinction to me. What are they researching on anyway, the perfect recipe for whale bisque?

:shame:

[Person]

This is sad. I mean, I understand there are things needed to be done for research, but come on a thousand whales dead every year? That sounds like extinction to me. What are they researching on anyway, the perfect recipe for whale bisque?

:shame:

Exactly... it's a fuckin' disgrace. I saw a bit on the news this morning but didn't catch it all. Anyone have a link?

[phi]

Here are some related ones

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10331818

Japan loses bid for secret whale votes


21.06.05


By Angela Gregory


Japan suffered a major setback on the first day of the International Whaling Commission meeting in South Korea after losing a vote to allow secret ballots.

New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter said from the meeting last night that member countries had narrowly voted against the proposal, 30-27, despite Japan’s confidence it would succeed.

"Japan must be furious."

Japan wanted a secret ballot to take pressure off countries making unpopular decisions.

Mr Carter said Nauru, understood to be pro-whaling, had not turned up to the meeting of the 66-member body, while Denmark and Finland voted against secret ballots despite their general support for Japan.

Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands had, as predicted, aligned themselves with Japan, which Mr Carter put down to "promises of aid".

He said Japan was acting "super-aggressive" but members had realised the IWC’s integrity would have been at stake if secret ballots were allowed.

The next important vote in the week-long meeting is scheduled for today with Australia’s remit, seconded by New Zealand, to condemn Japan’s scientific whaling.

Mr Carter said Japan was using a loophole to harvest whales and now wanted to more than double its minke whale kill in the Antarctic to 935, and take up to 50 endangered fin whales and 50 humpbacks.


280 Schools Sell Whale-burgers (http://i-newswire.com/pr26199.html)
i-Newswire, - As the International Whaling Commission’s annual conference draws to a close, Japan has been applying strong diplomatic pressure to try and ease whaling laws and expand on current quota for ‘scientific research.’

Support for whaling in Japan is so high a school board in Wakayama was able to persuade the government to allow it to supply around 280 schools with whale meat in the form of whale burgers and whale in breadcrumbs.

The school board claims that the tradition of killing whales has been around for over four hundred years, but the tradition is dying out, so they want to encourage children to get involved. Japan kills around 400 whales per year.


That sounds difficult, asking a people to change their culture (that is if this calls for that).

[paygee]

280 Schools Sell Whale-burgers (http://i-newswire.com/pr26199.html)


what the hell?

[Godless]

Nuke the Whales

"You gotta nuke somethin'!"


I am seriously thinking about getting this t-shirt (http://www.hardkor-sports.com/hu-106.html).

[paygee]

:laughing:

[Tzarina]

280 Schools Sell Whale-burgers (http://i-newswire.com/pr26199.html)


what the hell?
what the fuck? that is just disgusting... jesus christ :brick:

i feel like jogging over to san diego and making off with a naval air craft carrier or destroyer and making some fucking burgers out of some japanese... :shame:
:ar15:

[spinnin'dervish]

i want to see a video of that, plus i want some veggie burgers now !!

[Heath]

Whale burger....yum.

[Godless]

I love whales myself (not to eat), but who am I to say that other people can't see them as just cows of the sea? Just a thought.

[phi]

I love whales myself (not to eat), but who am I to say that other people can't see them as just cows of the sea? Just a thought.

That's true. But are whales easily bred, i.e. can we make them reproduce just for meat? Kind of an agriculture thing? I guess this could be on one of their research studies, dunno for sure. I think it's harder to breed them compared to cows, and if they were to do that (among others), then I don't think it would be a lucrative business. Well, maybe it could, but it would be really expensive...dunno, really :uhhh:

That sounds difficult, asking a people to change their culture (that is if this calls for that).

I know it's part of their culture, but I hope they won't ignore the facts/statistics once these whales come to the point of extinction. They are a powerful country. Hopefully they could do a turnaround and help save them instead of devour them.

:who:

[paygee]

i feel like jogging over to san diego and making off with a naval air craft carrier or destroyer and making some fucking burgers out of some japanese...

couldnt hurt the over-population problem



:ontome:

[Godless]

mmmmmmmm japwiches

[Person]

Godless, the "cows of the sea" notion is void... It's actually quite a stupid theory. As Phi brought up, the current situation is that whale populations are running quite thin, and can't be bred like cows or other farm animals can. Not only that, but whales actually have migrational habits which can take them from the pacific oceans to Antarctica - this means that they can't be thrown into a pen like tuna.

There is no point in hunting whales at all. Phi, there is no scientific merrit to their studies.

The whole thing is a greedy desire to follow an old tradition in Japan... and basically, it's a gross and unsustainable practise.

[phi]

Don't forget Scandinavia.


Greenpeace gives govt warning on whaling (http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/IWC-upholds-ban-on-whale-hunting/2005/06/21/1119321730085.html?oneclick=true)

[Godless]

meh

buffalo of the sea*

[Tzarina]

Don't forget Scandinavia.


Greenpeace gives govt warning on whaling (http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/IWC-upholds-ban-on-whale-hunting/2005/06/21/1119321730085.html?oneclick=true)
thanks phi, but it wouldn't let me read :frown:

[Tzarina]

Godless, the "cows of the sea" notion is void... It's actually quite a stupid theory. As Phi brought up, the current situation is that whale populations are running quite thin, and can't be bred like cows or other farm animals can. Not only that, but whales actually have migrational habits which can take them from the pacific oceans to Antarctica - this means that they can't be thrown into a pen like tuna.

There is no point in hunting whales at all. Phi, there is no scientific merrit to their studies.

The whole thing is a greedy desire to follow an old tradition in Japan... and basically, it's a gross and unsustainable practise.
:agree:

[phi]

thanks phi, but it wouldn't let me read :frown:

Ah krud, I just checked again it's on 'subscription' status now, it wasn't before. Sorry :dead:

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31387/story.htm

Group Rejects Japanese Plans for Coastal Whale Hunt

ULSAN - Japan suffered yet another setback on Thursday in its bid for more whaling when an international commission rejected a plea to allow Japanese coastal communities to hunt whales.


An annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Ulsan voted against Japan's proposal to change commission rules and allow it to catch 150 minke whales a year off its northern Pacific coast.
On Wednesday, the IWC chastised Tokyo for its scientific whaling programme, which anti-whaling states say is actually a commercial hunt in the guise of science. A day earlier Japan was also voted down by anti-whaling states in two other ballots.

Twenty-nine member states voted against Japan's proposal on Thursday to allow its local communities to hunt whales, to 26 in favour. The plan needed a three-quarters majority to be implemented.

Many conservationists and anti-whaling nations said they supported whaling for aboriginal communities as a form of subsistence.

But they saw the measure brought by Japan -- the world's second-largest economy -- as a way to skirt rules to benefit coastal communities that are neither impoverished nor in need of whale meat to support a slim diet.

"We don't campaign against legitimate subsistence whaling, but Japan is trying to create a new category -- cultural whaling," said Patrick Ramage, spokesman for the conservation group International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Japan said a ban on commercial whaling that went into effect in 1986 has hurt some of its communities that have relied on whaling and who need the whale trade to support their local economies and diet.

"This proposal was about human rights, equity, fairness and justice," said Joji Morishita, a commissioner for Japan, said after the vote.


CULTURE, LAW

The commission allows aboriginal communities to hunt whales for subsistence, as long as the catch is not used commercially. Anti-whaling states such as New Zealand are willing to allow this type of whale hunt.

The United States, which many see as a moderating force within the commission, also stood against Japan's proposal.

"The proposal always troubles us because it deals with culture and the law," said Rolland Schmitten, commissioner for the US delegation. "But this is outside the convention."

Japan said it was willing to talk with neutral parties to develop a management scheme that would place strict regulations on its commercial whaling in order to end the whaling moratorium, but it does not think it will ever find a compromise with anti-whaling states such as Australia and New Zealand.

"With extreme, anti-whaling counties, we don't have any middle ground," Morishita said later at a press conference.

Japan's whaling ambitions were dealt a symbolic blow on Wednesday when the commission voted to urge Tokyo to cut its scientific whale hunt.

Although the vote puts more political pressure on Japan, it will still be able to expand its scientific whaling as the project is not regulated by commission rules. Resolutions, such as Wednesday's vote, are non-binding.

Japan's well-flagged plan to expand its research work made public at the start of the annual meeting on Monday includes nearly doubling its annual catch of minke whales to about 900 and eventually hunting 50 fin and humpback whales a year -- two types of whales conservationists say are threatened.

Much of the meat from whales killed by Japan's scientific programmes ends up on store shelves or in up-scale restaurants, rather than in laboratories. Japan maintains that killing whales helps them study what they eat, among other things.

Story by Jon Herskovitz

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

[phi]

http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1399593.htm

Japan vows to pursue commercial whaling campaign
Last updated: 24/06/2005 11:02:45 AM AEST

A meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is meeting for the last day of its annual session in South Korea, with anti-whaling countries claiming a victory for conservation.

Japan says it will not give up in its campaign to reintroduce commercial whale hunting.

The 66-member body is now almost split between the two camps.

This year, the anti-whaling group secured most key votes, with Japan failing in its attempt to reintroduce commercial whaling.

Sue Lieberman, from the Worldwide Fund for Nature, says she is still concerned that the vote was so close.

"We're relieved that the majority of the votes were with conservation, but take no comfort from the fact that it was exceedingly close," she said.

The Japanese fisheries agency denies that it failed at this year's IWC meeting, but admits the anti-whaling group is growing in support.

ABC Asia Pacific TV / Radio Australia


I was searching through the news, and it was all about whale burgers. Give it up Japan. :shame:

[Tzarina]

CULTURE? I am SO sick of the culture argument...

preserving a way of life and/or culture is better exemplified by the northern tribes of native peoples...

these people take ONE WHALE a year per community... this sustains then throughout a very harsh winter, and THIS is acceptable...

I am sick and tired of hearing these cultural arguments for people like the Japanese and chinese where it is really all about money. Many of these animals they argue about are endangered. Look at china, they hunted and killed their native black bear populations to complete extinction just for their gall bladders, then come over here and start poaching ours...
They hunt their tigers to extinction and then begin importing any big game poachers wares that come along...

what's next? Japan kills all their whales, so they will demand or take illegally whales from other nations waters?

Culture my ass, culture adapts to necessary changes, we don't hunt animals to extinction any more, it is not necessary to hunt these animals at all...

there are sufficient replacements for almost all animal products... ugh i am so sick of this crap.


oh and phi :thanku:

[KenKill75]

Im sure the Japs will have a whale of a good time :what: :teehee: Sorry, I couldnt resist.

[Tzarina]

Im sure the Japs will have a whale of a good time :what: :teehee: Sorry, I couldnt resist.
not if we could start moving all of our destroyers and air craft carriers, fully armed of course, along with those big giant nuke subs we have to their borders and wait for them to leave :biggrin:

:nuke:

[KenKill75]

But...Japan has those Robot guards :ohnoes:

[Tzarina]

http://www.armchairempire.com/images/Reviews/Playstation2/transformers/transformers-4.jpg

[Person]

Tzarina, Japan is taking whales from international waters and other nations' as well (those who allow them to).

[jazz]

nuke those fuckers. we'll start there. then we'll move on to the baby seal killers, then the rest of the scum.

[Tzarina]

Tzarina, Japan is taking whales from international waters and other nations' as well (those who allow them to).
well, any that allow it must be destroyed as well :shame:

[phi]

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/594648/

Nauru defends whaling vote to world

Jun 28, 2005

The Nauruan government defended its support for commercial whaling on Tuesday, saying it was concerned about the effects of whales on tuna stocks.

The vote in favour of a revised management system at last week's International Whaling Commission meeting in Korea was taken in the best interests of the country's people, Nauru's ambassador to the United Nations, Marlene Moses, said.

The new system would have allowed a return to a controlled harvest of whales, a move Australia and other nations have vehemently opposed.

Environmental agencies attending the IWC meeting said the Nauruan delegate arrived late and was surrounded by Japanese officials as soon as he reached the venue in Ulsan.

Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell complained that he was not allowed to even speak to the delegate before the vote, which was lost 23-29.

"Some media reports have suggested that Nauru's decision to become a member of the IWC and its vote were heavily influenced by other member nations, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

"Recent criticism in the media concerning Nauru's involvement in the IWC is an unfair intrusion on Nauru's sovereignty," Ms Moses said in a statement.

She says the government of Nauru is a responsible government.

"We have a voice on issues concerning the Pacific Ocean and our decision to vote for commercial whaling was a carefully considered decision.

"Some whale species have the potential to devastate our tuna stocks and, as a country whose food security and economy relies heavily on fishing, it is our responsibility to ensure the sustainability of our people's livelihoods."

Japan has made no secret that it champions the theory that whales take large numbers of commercial species of fish, such as tuna.

Senator Campbell said Australia believed such a claim was untrue and that scientific data had shown it to be untrue.

Ms Moses said Nauru voted openly at the meeting and stood by its vote.

"Foreign governments have an obligation to respect our national decisions and not to undermine our sovereignty by suggesting that our participation in the IWC was motivated by anything other than securing the best outcome for our people," she said.


Source: Reuters

Say again?? I don't think that that rationale is [part of] the case. Kill whales to save tuna? :erm: There are probably other ways to save their fishing industry.

[jazz]

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/594648/



Say again?? I don't think that that rationale is [part of] the case. Kill whales to save tuna? :erm: There are probably other ways to save their fishing industry.

stop having so many fucking kids/mouths to feed? :sarcasm:

[Tzarina]

they could always just end the fishing industry :what:




:ontome:

[Ellen Degenerate]

stupid japan, leave the whales alone :rage:

and stupid china making my favourite animals endangered :crying3:

[Person]

they could always just end the fishing industry :what:




:ontome:
Really not a bad option.

[Ellen Degenerate]

the whales should start killing a certain ammount of japanese each year and do some research of their own

[jazz]

the whales should start killing a certain ammount of japanese each year and do some research of their own
i'll always be in support of that. :nod:

[... Scott]

Maybe somebody should look into making a soya whalemeat substitute for all those sushi bars




Kwang synthetic Whale ! Tastes BLUBBERY !

[Hailo]

I don't see why not.. :shrug:

[Tzarina]

and stupid china making my favourite animals endangered :crying3:
which ones? the chinese have eradicated tigers, bears (of all sorts), countless fish and amphibians, and invertebrates... not to mention birds...

[Hailo]

birds of a feather flocktogether

[Ellen Degenerate]

which ones? the chinese have eradicated tigers, bears (of all sorts), countless fish and amphibians, and invertebrates... not to mention birds...
tigers and bears

[ketchup fingers]

I really want a whale burger.

[Tzarina]

whales... dolphins... both marine mammals, so i am putting this in here...

Link (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2005-08-18-dolphin-swims_x.htm?csp=28&RM_Exclude=Juno)

Dolphin swims: 'Disney-fication of wildlife'?

By Laura Bly, USA TODAY
CruiseMates.com editor Anne Campbell's dolphin epiphany came during a cruise-ship stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

"I wandered from my beach spot to the Dolphin Encounter and stopped in my tracks," she recalled in a recent newsletter. "These highly intelligent, beautiful mammals were in cages as they pulled tourists through a small area of water." She returned as the park was closing: "Tears filled my eyes as I saw one dolphin, his head raised above water, staring out to sea, held back by a link fence."

The reaction of travelers like Campbell notwithstanding, human-Flipper interactions are popular at cruise ports in Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean. Nearly 20 programs operate there, and another dozen are being planned, says Susan Sherwin of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

At least 18 U.S. facilities offer swim or wade programs with captive dolphins, up from four a decade ago.

And in a Harris opinion poll in March, 72% of respondents said they would be interested in swimming with dolphins in a "safe and legal environment" at a park or zoo.

But now, some travel purveyors are cutting back on dolphin programs.

In July, citing a new campaign by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises announced it would no longer offer dolphin-encounter shore excursions. "We learned that what we thought were natural environments really weren't," says Radisson's Darius Mehta.

Costa Rica last month banned swims with wild dolphins and prohibits dolphin captivity except for temporary rehabilitation — the first Caribbean country to do so.

Though no firms there offer captive-dolphin encounters, at least 25 operators advertise swims with dolphins or whales, says Priscilla Cubero-Pardo of PROMAR, a non-profit group that proposed the legislation.

Responsible interactive programs foster a connection that inspires participants to care about conserving wild dolphins and their habitats, argues Marilee Menard, executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums.

But Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society of the United States, says the industry's unchecked growth and dearth of regulations has led to widespread abuse and contributed to the "Disney-fication of wildlife."

Dolphins "don't want to be with us as much as we want to be with them — and in captivity, it's never their choice."


:sigh: