Environmentalists pursue Japan's whalers

[kurogane]

As much as I am for fecking with the Watson SS (Protest Macht Frei!!!!!!) the idea of force feeding mercury meat to children beggars the belief of even me. And I like to think I am rather comfortable with how wildly girly they can get when they get hinky and defensive. And that allows that baleen whales have significantly lower levels of thermometer juice.

[matsuki]

how wildly girly they can get

That's from the force fed tofu and such...

[kurogane]

I only found out about that this year EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

At least I can finally blame my ex's cooking next time she gives me shiite for having gone on sex strikes when she was more haggy than normal.

[matsuki]

LOL, what's with the feigned "bafflement" here?

"But we don't have control over the rest of dolphin catch, part of which is said to be sold by local brokers to aquariums in China and the Middle East," he added.

It's not us! It's those other guys over there!

I wonder what other bridges go out of service for Japanese zoo's and aquariums as part of the exclusion?

Japanese aquariums vote to stop getting dolphins from Taiji hunt

http://www.japantoday.com/category/nati ... taiji-hunt

Japan’s zoos and aquariums voted Wednesday to stop using dolphins caught by the controversial “drive hunt” method in Taiji, allowing them to remain part of a global body that had suspended the country’s chapter over the issue.

The vote was prompted by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (WAZA) suspension of the Japanese chapter (JAZA) last month, saying it had refused to stop taking dolphins caught in the southern Japanese whaling town.

Taiji came to worldwide attention after the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” showed pods of the animals forced into a bay and butchered with knives, in a mass killing that turned the water red with blood.

“JAZA will prohibit its members to acquire wild dolphins caught by drive fishing in Taiji and to take part in their export and sale,” JAZA chairman Kazutoshi Arai said in a letter to WAZA following the vote, which saw an overwhelming majority (99) of the 152 members opt to remain part of the global body.

JAZA does not regard drive hunt as “cruel”, Arai told during a press briefing, adding that a dolphin from Taiji costs about a million yen.

“Various facilities (zoos and aquariums) will have to cooperate to promote breeding,” Arai said.

Earlier, JAZA executive director Kensho Nagai said: “We annually take about 20 dolphins from Taiji, but we have improved how we hunt, separating our hunt from everything else at Taiji that is for dolphin meat.

“But we don’t have control over the rest of the dolphin catch, part of which is said to be sold by local brokers to aquariums in China and the Middle East,” he added.

Taiji residents have long defended the drive hunt saying its purpose is to obtain dolphin meat, which they say is a traditional part of their diet.

But some live dolphins are also sold on after the drive hunt—which typically involves pushing the animals together with boats and closing off their escape, forcing them into a coastal bay.

Critics of the practice say there is insufficient demand for dolphin meat and drive hunting is only profitable because of the high prices live dolphins can fetch when sold to aquariums and dolphin shows.

“WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild,” the global body said when it suspended JAZA.

A weekend Japanese report said nearly half the dolphins in the country’s aquariums are caught using the controversial fishing method, but it did not specify whether the dolphins came from Taiji.

Chief Cabinet Secretary and top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday the government “is aware” of the controversy between WAZA and its Japanese chapter, and “the government will take measures to avoid any ramifications on exhibitions in aquariums.”

The drive hunt “is a sustainable fishing (method) under appropriate control by… the government with scientific foundations, and is being carried out carefully so that dolphins are not hurt,” Suga said.

and

Japan's whaling science under the microscope

http://www.japantoday.com/category/nati ... microscope

When Japanese researchers said earlier this year that eating whale meat could help prevent dementia and memory loss, the news provoked snorts of derision—it couldn’t be real science, went the retort.

Despite protestations of academic rigor from the men and women who do the work, anything involving the words “Japan”, “whaling” and “research” suffers from a credibility gap in the court of global public opinion.

Tokyo was told last year by the United Nations’ top legal body that the program of “lethal research whaling” it has carried out in the Southern Ocean for nearly two decades was a fig leaf for a commercial hunt.

Now Japan is going back to the scientific panel of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at a meeting in San Diego that began Tuesday, to try to convince them there is a genuine need for the research that they say is being carried out when they slaughter marine mammals whose meat ends up on the dinner table.

Japan’s research whaling program “doesn’t appear to fulfil basic criteria that all scientists naturally strive towards”, said Atsushi Ishii, associate professor of environmental politics at Tohoku University in northeastern Japan.

“For example, there was no reasonable explanation as to how catch ceilings were worked out and… there have been few peer-reviewed articles.

“Scientific research on this scale usually involves cooperation with other projects” for efficiency and to avoid duplication, but Japan has steadfastly gone it alone, he added.

Japan has hunted whales for a few hundred years, but the industry really took off after World War II to help feed a hungry country.

While other leading industrial nations—including the United States and Britain—once hunted whales, the practice fell out of favor, and by the 1980s, commercial whaling was banned.

Norway and Iceland ignore the ban, but Japan uses a loophole that allows for so-called “lethal research”.

“The purpose of Japan’s research is science—science that will ensure that when commercial whaling is resumed, it will be sustainable,” the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), the body charged with overseeing the whaling program, insists on its website.

The ICR says this means it needs to keep careful tabs on the whale population, by determining, amongst other things, the average life expectancy of the creatures, their exposure to pollutants and their diet.

The only accurate way to measure these criteria, they say, is to kill the animals to examine their stomach contents, the condition of their organs and the thickness of their blubber.

Responding to the UN court decision, Japan has now submitted a new research proposal to the IWC, setting a Southern Ocean catch target of 333 minke whales—a two-thirds cut of the previous target—and limiting the program to 12 years, instead of being open-ended.

Anti-whaling campaigners insist most of what needs to be learned about whales can be gleaned by observing them, taking biopsies or examining fecal discharge.

Japanese whaling research “is not considered genuine science,” Greenpeace Japan activist Junichi Sato told AFP.

Scientists who argue for it are “speaking in order to help realise the political intention of resuming commercial whaling, rather than on grounds of scientific, objective judgement”.

Away from the thorny issue of stock counting, research on possible health benefits of consuming whale meat is tarred with the same brush.

In March this year tests on mice revealed consuming balenine—a substance found in whale meat—mitigated the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Greenpeace’s Sato said there had to be automatic suspicion about research like this, which was carried out in association with the ICR and could be a foil to help stimulate flagging demand for whale meat.

Professor Seiji Shioda of Hoshi University in Tokyo, who did the work, refuted any suggestion it could be tainted by politics.

“I don’t understand why the study should be labelled as unscientific,” he told AFP.

“Based on scientific data, I believe there surely is a meaningful substance” in whales’ bodies, he said, noting they live long lives and continue to carry out complex navigation in old age.

“Whales are wonderful creatures but not much is known about their functionary mechanism… We need to proceed with scientific analysis.”

Tohoku University’s Ishii says ironically, the moratorium on commercial hunting is one of the few things that has kept whaling alive in Japan.

By around the turn of this century, the industry was no longer commercially viable. Japan “could not have extended the life of whaling without the moratorium”.

Given every Antarctic mission results in a loss, the fisheries agency actually wants to pull out, he said, but a group of pro-whaling lawmakers will not allow it.

“They think it would look like Japan’s succumbing to (environmentalists’) or Australian demands,” he said.

[Yokohammer]

Given every Antarctic mission results in a loss, the fisheries agency actually wants to pull out, he said, but a group of pro-whaling lawmakers will not allow it.

“They think it would look like Japan’s succumbing to (environmentalists’) or Australian demands,” he said.

And that's the whole reason, isn't it. It's an unnecessary, outdated, wasteful practice that results in nothing but losses, yet the maintenance of pride takes priority over doing the sensible thing.

Pride is the short sword with which a certain group of pig-headed twits are most likely to disembowel themselves.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time.

[matsuki]

Given every Antarctic mission results in a loss, the fisheries agency actually wants to pull out, he said, but a group of pro-whaling lawmakers will not allow it.

“They think it would look like Japan’s succumbing to (environmentalists’) or Australian demands,” he said.

And that's the whole reason, isn't it. It's an unnecessary, outdated, wasteful practice that results in nothing but losses, yet the maintenance of pride takes priority over doing the sensible thing.

Pride is the short sword with which a certain group of pig-headed twits are most likely to disembowel themselves.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time.

Don't said politicians also allegedly get kickbacks or money under the table from the whalers? Greed is worse than pride.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Sea Shepherd to Pay Millions to Whale Killers

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society agreed to pay $2.55 million to Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research on Monday as part of a settlement to resolve a long-standing legal battle over the anti-whaling group’s tactics against Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic.

The settlement came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Sea Shepherd’s appeal of a federal court’s finding that the group was in contempt of a court order to stay clear of Japanese whaling ships.

[wagyl]

Woo boy I bet all those people who donated to Sea Shepherd are thrilled at where the money is going!

[kurogane]

I read the lawsuit money was to come from a Legal Fund not from donor money. At any rate, it's nice to hear the Sea Shitbirds are learning to play nice with the other kids for a change. Maybe they can use this as a first step towards a better working relationship with the whale hunters, one based not on petty animosity and jurisdictional jealousies but on their mutual love and appreciation of whales.

[matsuki]

The court also determined that Sea Shepherd’s actions amounted to piracy under international law. That charge has been disputed by some legal experts, because the group’s actions did not involve the pursuit of monetary gain.

Yeah....and pachinko isn't gambling

Woo boy I bet all those people who donated to Sea Shepherd are thrilled at where the money is going!

well...

The settlement outlines that Sea Shepherd will pay $2.55 million to the ICR, and in turn, the ICR will drop all claims against Watson, the former Sea Shepherd board of directors. The money will come from a Sea Shepherd legal fund and “did not draw from donor funds,” Davis said.

Kinda brazen of the US when they have shakey jurisdiction and the company is claiming the ownership of the ship was transferred abroad.



So much for Japan obeying the ICOJ ruling...

But in March 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled that the annual hunt was illegal because it was not conducted for research purposes but rather to obtain whale meat for sale on the international market. That prompted Japan to declare a one-year moratorium on the Southern Ocean hunt in 2014, but the country has vowed to resume Antarctic whaling in late 2015.

In a related move, Japan announced it will resume “research whaling” in the northwestern Pacific beginning on Thursday and lasting through late August. The Japanese Fisheries Agency has approved the taking of 90 sei whales and 25 Bryde’s whales during the hunt.

[wagyl]

Oh yes and I suppose the legal fund just materialises out of thin air...

More lies don't help this situation.

[kurogane]

Probably comes from their income from their Nature Porn TV show or even their merchandise and Paul the Walrus' appearance fees, but yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that delicate distinction too.

[matsuki]

Oh yes and I suppose the legal fund just materialises out of thin air...

More lies don't help this situation.

The court also determined that Sea Shepherd’s actions amounted to piracy under international law. That charge has been disputed by some legal experts, because the group’s actions did not involve the pursuit of monetary gain.

Yeah....and pachinko isn't gambling

[Samurai_Jerk]

Probably comes from their income from their Nature Porn TV show or even their merchandise and Paul the Walrus' appearance fees, but yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that delicate distinction too.

It's like when the US government gives money to faith-based charity initiatives and says it doesn't violate the separation of church and state. They say the money is only used for charity operations and not religious purposes but we all know that it's just an accounting trick.

[kurogane]

I laughed at that bit as well. Only a lying sack of shit like Paul The Walrus and his gullible minions could possibly think that will fly. The Sea Shitbirds apparently just got a new boat bought for them by a Dutch national charity fund of some sort (national lottery fund???). Which sort of makes the Dutch state a terrorist funding agency. In Canada that would be a front page outrage.

[matsuki]

Probably comes from their income from their Nature Porn TV show or even their merchandise and Paul the Walrus' appearance fees, but yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that delicate distinction too.

It's like when the US government gives money to faith-based charity initiatives and says it doesn't violate the separation of church and state. They say the money is only used for charity operations and not religious purposes but we all know that it's just an accounting trick.

That reminds me of all the "free English lessons" Japanese exchange students told me about when I was a student. What better text to study English with than the bible!

[kurogane]

From what I know of those arrangements there was a surprising bit of deep injection method as well.

[matsuki]

From what I know of those arrangements there was a surprising bit of deep injection method as well.

Banging catholic school girls is fun and all but this is my type of sunday school:

http://pennsundayschool.com/

[Takechanpoo]

in the first place, why the heck is high intelligence or big proportion regarded as the reason to especially be protected?
i predicate its nothing more than eugenic or transformed nazism.
they just applly it to animal kimgdom because frankly applying it to human beings is not allowed in modern society after WWII
and what the fuck is high intelligence on earth? its nothing but an arbitrary categorizing by part of contemporary guys.
if one day aliens having far higher intelligence than humans, come to the earth and start eating humans
because according to their categorizing, humans are categorized as lower animals as pig, cow, dog etc,
how do those whale cultists contradict it? eh?
actually they never give a pursuasive answer the question why eating pig or cow is ok and eating whale is not.
you should protect animals regardless of whether they have high intelligence or low intelligence, big body or small body
in very the same way and should protect the whole ecosystem if you really want to protect it.
otherwise, its meaningless or even harmful to sanctify specific animals and protect it under the name of environmental protection.

i think those things are pretty easy to understand...
why the heck are there considerable number of guys who even dont understand such easy things?

[matsuki]

Forget the intelligence argument for a sec Take, what about the hunting of endangered species? Even if you like eating them, just like Tuna and unagi, they need time to recover.

[Wage Slave]

Doubtful argument. No doubt they can show that the particular whales they hunt are in no way endangered and since only Japan, Norway and Iceland take whales there isn't a population problem.

The big weakness in their argument is that there isn't any real demand for whale meat in Japan. Very few people are interested in eating it because it tastes a bit yucky and that's that. So why send a fleet of ships all the way down to the Antarctic to get it? Are they building up a strategic stockpile or something?

And then there's also the good neighbour/we are all in this together argument. The countries down south want to preserve the area as a marine/wilderness reserve. What to think of a bunch of people from thousands of kilometres away who visit to hunt and take whales from your reserve? And maybe not just for fun but certainly for no real purpose or benefit even to themselves.

By all means hunt and eat whales if you must but don't hunt more than you can eat and don't hunt them in other people's backyards. Stick to your own backyards like Norway and Iceland, target sustainable species, eat what you catch and there is little anyone can really criticise you for.

[matsuki]

Spelled out better than I could have.

I still want to see some real terror on the south seas though. What will the locals think if the Japanese whalers keep taking what they want while the nutty gaijin just keep posturing and rolling their R's at them. It's just unnatural.

[Samurai_Jerk]

By all means hunt and eat whales if you must but don't hunt more than you can eat and don't hunt them in other people's backyards. Stick to your own backyards like Norway and Iceland, target sustainable species, eat what you catch and there is little anyone can really criticise you for.

I totally agree but even if Japan did that you'd still have a lot of people bitching and moaning because they think whales is people.

[Coligny]

By all means hunt and eat whales if you must but don't hunt more than you can eat and don't hunt them in other people's backyards. Stick to your own backyards like Norway and Iceland, target sustainable species, eat what you catch and there is little anyone can really criticise you for.

I totally agree but even if Japan did that you'd still have a lot of people bitching and moaning because they think whales is people.

Maybe much less...

no ?

[Grumpy Gramps]

bitching and moaning because they think whales is people.

They could simply start hunting and eating people. It's not an endangered species, no shortage anywhere, there is a long tradition of cannibalism in the pacific islands and the meat tastes like chicken (I've heard). Would render the anti-whalers' arguments moot. And then there would be no need for whale-meat on school-lunches, if they can munch away on grampa

[wagyl]

munch away on grampa

... on Grumpy Gramps???

Don't tell me this is a crossover with the vasectomy (now trending towards X-treme Vasectomy) thread!

[Samurai_Jerk]

By all means hunt and eat whales if you must but don't hunt more than you can eat and don't hunt them in other people's backyards. Stick to your own backyards like Norway and Iceland, target sustainable species, eat what you catch and there is little anyone can really criticise you for.

I totally agree but even if Japan did that you'd still have a lot of people bitching and moaning because they think whales is people.

Maybe much less...

no ?

Maybe. I wish they'd give it a try either way. Killing whales just to spite the rest of the world is a dickhead thing to do.

[Takechanpoo]

And then there's also the good neighbour/we are all in this together argument. The countries down south want to preserve the area as a marine/wilderness reserve. What to think of a bunch of people from thousands of kilometres away who visit to hunt and take whales from your reserve? And maybe not just for fun but certainly for no real purpose or benefit even to themselves.

don't hunt them in other people's backyards.Stick to your own backyards like Norway and Iceland, target sustainable species, eat what you catch and there is little anyone can really criticise you for.

its one of the "reasons" which are often seen in medias, its comment field and forums.
the answer is no. its NOT their bachyard. its international waters.
its totally no problem to catch fish in internatinal waters.
or is there some international rules which limit to catch fish only within 200 nautical mile from your coastline? of course, no.
actually, for example, aussies fishing boats too catch fishes in internatioal waters near japan, india, chile, etc. its also totally no problem.
or catching fishes in international waters is ok and only catching whales in international waters is not? WHY?
if they want to make their "backyard" a sanctuary of whales, they first should do it for their pretty kangaroos.
eeh? they wont do it or even want to do? coz kangaroo is neither pretty nor sacred, according to them.

By all means hunt and eat whales if you must but don't hunt more than you can eat

i agree to it too. but its your personal one. anti-whalers one is not like that.
they demand to stop killing whales ITSELF, as you do know.
its apparently a religious demand on the ground of religious dogma.
and such their religious attitude have made japanese side stubborn and inflexible so far.
all required is a reasonable demand on the ground of reasonable reasons.

[Russell]

munch away on grampa

... on Grumpy Gramps???

Don't tell me this is a crossover with the vasectomy (now trending towards X-treme Vasectomy) thread!

Is this a challenge?!?

[Coligny]

bitching and moaning because they think whales is people.

They could simply start hunting and eating people. It's not an endangered species, no shortage anywhere, there is a long tradition of cannibalism in the pacific islands and the meat tastes like chicken (I've heard). Would render the anti-whalers' arguments moot. And then there would be no need for whale-meat on school-lunches, if they can munch away on grampa

LEGALIZE MURDER !!!!