At a time when there are so many important issues, fires to put out literally, why does this subject tug at my very soul. When ever I see clear-cut, I mourn the giants. When I hear the word whaling my hair catches fire. A couple of years ago I moved to Washington state, and I could hardly wait to see my first old growth forest. I thought I was moving to the “real” north woods. Imagine my dismay when I had to buy a book to tell me where the small patches of old growth still existed, and they were miles and miles away. On the trip there, I would see miles and miles and miles of clear-cut. Like a desert that shouldn’t be.
And now when I thought we had put this issue to bed, today’s headlines:
Pro-whaling nations set to take control
Pro-whalers eye whaling commission
Japan buys votes to take control of whaling body
The forces that drive Japanese whaling
Below are snippets from the 4 articles:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Pro-whaling nations are expected to take control of the International Whaling Commission this week, giving them a majority of seats on the panel for the first time since it banned commercial hunting 20 years ago.
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Raphael Archibald, a spokesman for the St. Kitts delegation, said the commission’s focus should shift from strict conservation to sustainable fishing and whaling.
“There are stocks of whales that are very abundant. What’s the idea of having them just there, increasing, increasing and increasing,” he said.
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In the Caribbean, Japan has given six countries — St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada and St. Kitts — more than $100 million in fishing aid since 1998. Most of them have backed Japan on whaling.
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Pro-whaling countries need a 75 percent majority of those voting to repeal the commercial ban — considered unlikely — but a simple majority will allow them to make significant changes.
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“They’ll be able to control the voice of the IWC and make statements under the organization’s banner in support of commercial whaling,” said Bill Hogarth, head of the U.S. delegation.
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The pro-whaling nations likely will push for secret balloting, Papastavrou said.
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Iceland, Norway and Japan have killed 2,500 whales in the past 12 months, more than in any year since the ban took effect in 1986.
link
Japan has succeeded in buying the votes that will give it control of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) later this week, in a major step towards bringing back commercial hunting of whales.
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It will be a considerable propaganda victory not only for the Japanese, but also for other nations who are determined to continue whale hunting in spite of international opinion, principally Norway and Iceland.
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But it will enable it to make major changes in the IWC, such as stopping all its conservation work, stopping all discussions of animal welfare in relation to whaling, promoting the trade in whale products and reshaping the organisation in a more pro-whaling fashion.
It will also allow the Japanese to get resolutions passed approving their so-called scientific whaling – the commercial whaling in disguise that the Japanese have resolutely continued since the ban. (This year they have been hunting nearly 1,000 minke whales in the Southern Ocean.)
[linkhttp://news.independent.co.uk/...}
As the International Whaling Commission prepares for its annual meeting on Friday, the BBC’s Chris Hogg in Tokyo says that for Japan, the whaling debate is more about culture than science.
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Japan’s government says its whaling fleet culled 863 whales last winter. The justification was science.
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Japan says it needs to collect data about whales – what are they eating? How old are they?
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…government says it needs to kill the whales in order to examine them closely and ensure the data is accurate.
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Masayuki Komatsu is the executive director of the government-funded Marine Fisheries Research and Development Department. Like many supporters of whaling he gives two main reasons for the cull. “Whale is abundant,” he says. “The number of fish is falling while the number of whales is rising. Surely the rapid increase in the whale population influences the level of the fish stocks? We need to know more about it.”
snipVocal minority
Jeff Kingston, an academic who has studied the industry, is not so sure that is the case. This is “invented tradition”, he believes. The support for whaling, he says, is rooted in more nationalistic traditions.
“This has become a touchstone issue for Japanese people who are sick and tired of being pushed around and told what to do by other countries like the United States,” he argues.
“If the media and a few leaders tell them that whaling and eating whale meat is part of Japanese tradition and culture, people are willing to believe it.”
Privately some senior officials in government admit that whaling policy has been hijacked by a small but vocal minority.‘Natural right’
At Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi insists that official support for the whaling industry is based on more than simply pacifying a small group of activists.
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The Japanese government says people want to eat whale meat
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“They try to frame this in terms of culinary imperialism, saying, ‘The West is trying to tell us what to eat. We don’t tell them not to eat pigs or lambs that we find cute, so why should they tell us not to eat whales?’Impact abroad
“This is not an industry that dictates the national interest,” he insists. “The whaling industry provides far less income than companies like Toyota or Nissan. So you have to put everything into perspective.”
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“They try to frame this in terms of culinary imperialism, saying, ‘The West is trying to tell us what to eat. We don’t tell them not to eat pigs or lambs that we find cute, so why should they tell us not to eat whales?’
I have but one question, if the whaling issue is driven by a small minority of culturely sensitive people and it accounts for very little of their GDP, how would the Japanese feel if Americans quit buying their cars and toys? Buy a Japanese car, kill a whale? How important is it to us? After all….it’s only an animal. An animal with a language, a beautiful magestic creature, that since the ban on whaling has gone to effect, has now started approaching humans in boats. They, just as curious about us, as we of them. Will they now run in fear when humans are around, like their ancestors? Please tell me we can stop this. Close your wallets to the whaling nations. Please.
One very simple thing to do is call all the Japanese car dealers in your area and complain. They will tell there is nothing they can do, but believe me, if they get enough calls the message will get through.
Are the whales worth saving?
Would you ban products from countries promoting whaling?
This is a non-issue we have more important problems to resolve?
It is a spiritual issue for me and I will do what I can?