Environmentalists pursue Japan's whalers

[Samurai_Jerk]

If they have that much in storage why the hell do they need to catch more?

Because if they don't put X number of tons of whale meat into cold storage each year their scientific research will be invalid. I mean, without this research how would we know the answer to such important questions as which tastes better: whale bacon or whale steak?

[Yokohammer]

If they have that much in storage why the hell do they need to catch more?

The whole whaling chain of command ... a convoluted series of semi-government organizations and offshoots thereof ... provides cushy "amakudari" jobs where ex-bureaucrats rip off the Japanese public by taking ridiculous salaries and retirement packages (often multiple retirement packages in a slick move known as "watari) that come out of our taxes. They are fighting tooth and nail to keep the whaling program alive not because it's an important part of Japanese culture (it provably isn't), but because of the easy money. Money, profit, easy living at the tax-payer's expense. That's all it is.

Looks like the system is beginning to fall apart though, and that is a good thing IMHO. As you suggest, catching a few whales and making sure none is wasted would be fine. But the way they're catching 1,000 or so a year and, according to some reports, discarding some at sea and then letting tons of the stuff languish and rot in cold storage (which also costs a fortune to maintain) is just selfish and stupid.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The whole whaling chain of command ... a convoluted series of semi-government organizations and offshoots thereof ... provides cushy "amakudari" jobs where ex-bureaucrats rip off the Japanese public by taking ridiculous salaries and retirement packages (often multiple retirement packages in a slick move known as "watari) that come out of our taxes. They are fighting tooth and nail to keep the whaling program alive not because it's an important part of Japanese culture (it provably isn't), but because of the easy money. Money, profit, easy living at the tax-payer's expense. That's all it is.

Looks like the system is beginning to fall apart though, and that is a good thing IMHO. As you suggest, catching a few whales and making sure none is wasted would be fine. But the way they're catching 1,000 or so a year and, according to some reports, discarding some at sea and then letting tons of the stuff languish and rot in cold storage (which also costs a fortune to maintain) is just selfish and stupid.

"Stop telling us what to do with our cuntry, whitey. If you don't like it, fuck off home."

No offense meant....Just helping you get some practice in if you ever argue this line in public.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Wikileaks on NZ response to whaling/Andy Gil

[kuainiri]

Environmental activists and Japanese whalers both released videos on Saturday, showing a confrontation in waters 3 000 kiliometres south of New Zealand.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), authorised to catch whales by the country's Ministry of Fisheries, clashed with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Sea Shepherd alleged that the whalers turned water cannon and hoses on their crew, while whalers accuse the group of pelting their hunting fleet with "some rather unpleasant foul-smelling substances," they said in a statement.

A Sea Shepherd spokesman was unable to confirm what was thrown, but in previous years the activists have tossed rancid butter, or butyric acid, stink bombs at the whalers to make their decks unusable for slaughtering whales.

The conservationist group has been chasing the fleet in the hope of interrupting Japan's annual whale hunt, which kills up to 1 000 whales a year. Whalers accuse the activists of using dangerous tactics.

Every year, Japan and Sea Shepherd make claims of aggression against each other, but the accounts are generally impossible to verify. Their skirmishes take place in an extremely remote part of the ocean off Antarctica.

The Japanese are allowed to harvest a quota of whales under a ruling by the International Whaling Commission, as long as the mammals are caught for research and not commercial purposes.

continue here: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia-pacific/2011/01/20111292830445880.html

[kuainiri]

South Korea says it is tightening rules to combat illegal whaling.

Although commercial whale hunting is banned in the country, the trading of whales that are found dead is still legal.

The new rules will require fisherman to report to police immediately if they discover dead whales in their nets or washed ashore.

The move comes after critics said some fishermen were exploiting a loophole in the law.

The new regulations mean that, from Monday, samples from all dead whales must be given to the authorities for testing, and their meat can only be sold after a full investigation into how the animal died.

Those who catch dead whales will also only be allowed to process and sell them at state-designated facilities, South Korea's agricultural ministry said.

The new law aims to tackle a "growing amount of illegal whale hunting" around the country, it said, according to AFP news agency.

"Once the new measures go into effect, Seoul will be able to better meet allegations of lax oversight raised by some countries and the IWC (International Whaling Commission), and lay the foundation for monitoring marine resources around the Korean Peninsula," a ministry official was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

South Korea used to allow commercial whaling but banned it when the IWC implemented a global moratorium in 1986.

[Adhesive]

Wikileaks on NZ response to whaling/Andy Gil

U.S. Response

[Yokohammer]

And the stockpile continues to grow ...

Whale meat stocks hit peak atop 6,000 tons

Odd, considering the legions of Japanese who are supposedly clamoring to regain their culinary culture.

[Mulboyne]

And the stockpile continues to grow ...

Whale meat stocks hit peak atop 6,000 tons

Odd, considering the legions of Japanese who are supposedly clamoring to regain their culinary culture.

A Japanese conservation group has already seized on that data to make the same point.

[Mike Oxlong]

[SIZE="5"]Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early[/SIZE]

Japan's whaling fleet is believed to be quitting the Antarctic under heavy conservationist and diplomatic pressure, just halfway through its worst season.

The Japanese government has decided to cut short the season and the fleet is heading back to port, sources in Tokyo told the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The sudden departure has raised hopes Japan may be moving to end its widely opposed, 23-year-old "scientific research" program, which has killed about 10,000 Antarctic whales.

"Under pressure from all fronts, the Japanese whaling fleet is apparently withdrawing early this season from the internationally recognised sanctuary around Antarctica," said IFAW's global whales campaign director, Patrick Ramage.

"We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers recognising there is no future for whaling in the 21st century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whales, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan," Mr Ramage said.

No immediate official confirmation was available from Japan. But the factory ship, Nisshin Maru, was today steaming towards Drake Passage, below South America, pursued by the Sea Shepherd group's vessel Bob Barker, having left its nominated whaling grounds 2000 nautical miles behind.

The Chilean government said it planned to use naval assets to monitor the approaching factory ship closely.

Chile has permanently banned whaling in its waters, and also forbids the transport of cetacean parts through them, but Nisshin Maru should be able to navigate Drake Passage without entering the Chilean exclusive economic zone...

[FG Lurker]

That's very good news! With something like 4000 tons of frozen whale meat that no one wants to buy I can't imagine WTF they are doing down there getting more.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early

It's about time they stop wasting taxpayer money killing the Cetacean Nations who already are mercury poisoned to the point they are toxic waste.

[Taro Toporific]

via

[BigInJapan]

Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early

Looks like it's now official:

[SIZE="5"]Japan cancels whaling season due to group's obstruction, official says[/SIZE]

Japan has canceled the rest of its winter whaling season, with a top official reasoning that environmentalists' obstructive efforts made it dangerous for whalers to stay on the high seas.

Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Michihiko Kano told reporters Friday that the country's government halted whaling because of actions taken by the animal rights group, Sea Shepherd. He stressed that Japan did not want to do so, but felt its hand was forced.

"From the viewpoint of our crew's safety, we have decided to cut short the research whaling at this time, against our will," he said.

The decision marks the first time Japan has canceled its whale hunt in the waters of the Antarctic since it started the practice in 1987. In 2005, Sea Shepherd began its bitter battle with Japanese whalers, monitoring them and occasionally getting into altercations.

[More on CNN...]

[matsuki]

LOL, just watch as they send out a second fleet of whaling ships when everyone puts their guard down.

[Ganma]

[Mike Oxlong]

[yt]Zfx6En-rWAM[/yt]

[Ganma]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Well, well, well...this is interesting. Now, a powerful Auustralian figure is arguing that the Aussies begin carrying out "scientific research"too....

[tone]

anyone watch the show? interesting/worth watching?

[Samurai_Jerk]

anyone watch the show? interesting/worth watching?

I saw a few early episodes while visiting my family in the US several years ago. What was interesting to me is that from what I saw it really made SS look pretty bad. My brother who was getting an undergrad degree in conservation biology at the time and is now finishing off his MS in the same field is 100% behind their cause. He thought he was an SS supporter but didn't know much about them. However, he was completely turned off by their disingenuous tactics and ended up agreeing with me that Paul Watson probably ought to be harpooned.

[Kanchou]

Paul whatshisface is being 'grilled' by Yoichi Watanabe on TV at the moment...

The show is really treating like straight-up criminals in the wrong..

Amusing.

[sublight]

Yeah, I was just watching it. Kind of funny to see him get schooled by a bunch of children.

[Bucky]

Paul Watson & Friend

A radical conservation group says it is going to launch "dramatic" attacks on Japanese whalers south of New Zealand later this year.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has announced "Operation Divine Wind" against the Japanese.

Divine Wind is the formal translation of the Japanese word kamikaze, the name given to hundreds of World War II suicide pilots, sailors and soldiers who attacked Allied forces in the Pacific.

They were named after a "divine wind" that destroyed a Mongolian fleet attacking Japan in the 13th century.

Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said his ships and crews were ready to attack the Japanese.

"I do think that we are in for a very dramatic and adventurous three months beginning in December and I am confident that we will be able to stop them once again," he said on the group's Facebook page.

He said the Japanese would have to kill the Sea Shepherd's volunteers.

Is Paul Watson putting his own life on the line or offering up volunteer underlings?

[matsuki]

Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said his ships and crews were ready to attack the Japanese.

He said the Japanese would have to kill the Sea Shepherd's volunteers.

Dem fightin' words, when is the Japanese military going to get involved? I'd actually pay to watch that.

[Greji]

Paul Watson & Friend


Is Paul Watson putting his own life on the line or offering up volunteer underlings?

Again, the as Sydney Morning Herald has it:here.....

The quote I really love is "......Earlier this week, Sea Shepherd promised dramatic attacks against Japanese whalers in the coming months, with volunteers warning they were prepared to die for the cause.
The group announced "Operation Divine Wind", which translates to the Japanese word kamikaze....."

I hope the operation comes to the same ends.....

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Paul whatshisface...

When I first saw this, I read it as "Paul What-Shit-Face," which I thought was an utterly perfect name for him, but then I realized it can also be read as "Paul What's-His-Face" and all the fun went out of it...

[Kanchou]

The whalers need to hire Blackwate snipers to shoot them on sight on account of being international waters and piracy being a hanging offense...in some countries.

[legion]

It's gonna be a hoot when the environmentalists are halfway through a dramatic dinghy raid and they run into a pod of killer whales.

[Bucky]

It's gonna be a hoot when the environmentalists are halfway through a dramatic dinghy raid and they run into a pod of killer whales.

. . . or after their ship has sunk because of some dumb-ass maneuver and they are huddled in an Avon life-raft bobbing in 30-foot seas begging the whalers to rescue them.