Whaling towns of Taiji, Denmark's Klaksvik to become sister cities

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A draft sister city agreement says the two towns will "promote sustainable use of living marine resources including cetaceans."

The inverted commas were necessary!

The inverted commas were NOT necessary. Their use reflects the biased view of the article writer. In a world where human population is increasing and food sources are under pressure, these two towns are using their head. Not the emotionally bent out of shape dribble crowd.

Has the article been edited after OssanAmerica's post? If we're talking about the quotation marks around the quotes from the draft agreement, then of course they are necessary, they indicate that those are quotes.

Of course the quotes, and possibly the whole agreement, are total rubbish, but that's another matter.

Two towns with similar barbaric and totally unnecessary 'traditions' gazing into each other's eyes and telling each other how put upon and misunderstood they are. Birds of a feather. (Apologies to the avian world.)

By the way Ossan, the dolphins killed in Taiji and in the Faroes are not a 'food source', their meat is toxic waste loaded with mercury. These two towns are doing no one any favours by trying to put non-food on the market.

Many of the pilot whales killed in the Grind are left to rot on the beach; they are not food.

Dolphins sold to to aquaria and marine circuses are what finance the Taiji hunts; they are not food.

Will there be a The Cove for this Danish town? I doubt it, they only go after easy targets

Losers of a feather flock together. They can be bitter together.

I guess they deserve each other.

Their partnership is aimed at boosting voices of the whaling towns amid rising pressure from antiwhaling groups, they added.

Solidarity! I guess you have to make friends where ever you can when the whole world hates you.

DisillusionedToday 10:28 am JSTTheir partnership is aimed at boosting voices of the whaling towns amid rising pressure from antiwhaling groups, they added.

Solidarity! I guess you have to make friends where ever you can when the whole world hates you.

Except that the "whole world" couldn't care less one way or the other. Only the eco-terrorist worshipping emotionally driven sheep care.

Will there be a The Cove for this Danish town? I doubt it, they only go after easy targets

So true! Easier to target big/bad/modern Japan than small, fairly isolated Western communities (in the Faroe islands, Norway, Greenland) who've been, whether we like it or not, living in tune with nature for thousands of years.

As someone who's neither for nor against small-scale whaling yet would like locals to voluntarily tweak/stop some of their cultural traditions, I actually think this new Klakvik - Taiji relationship is a good thing and could do more for the anti-whaling movement than anti-whalers themselves. Dialogue over demonization.

These guys aren't stupid/as blood as thirsty as 'cool' activists may think. Reckon they know the world is changing and that changing some of their traditional culture is necessary. Well balanced article here https://www.mappingmegan.com/understanding-faroe-islands-grindadrap/

As for 'die-hard activists', bigger fish to fry, so to speak, in large scale commercial fishing & bycatch.

@goldorak

Like you, I don't really have a position on small-scale whaling. But, regarding the Faroes, l don't see the use of motor-boats as a part of living "in tune with nature".

@ossanamerica - Except that the "whole world" couldn't care less one way or the other. Only the eco-terrorist worshipping emotionally driven sheep care.

Bwahahaha! Thank you for today's chuckle Ossan.

@luca, haha fair point, might have waxed lyrical a tad too much here ;)

; )

These fishermen are not losers.  Losers flocking together here are those whining parasites sticking to a host country while barking against it all the time. The fishermen in this article are winners, knowing how to both make a living while preserving their respective traditions and conserve the natural resources of the sea.  And no, I don't think the Danish police will be kind enough to let the hypocrite thieves sneak in and make what would be Denmark's the Cove.

The Faroes whaling has been actively protested against for years by many groups. Because you don't read / hear of it on mainstream media in Japan, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

In fact this new sister town relationship is probably because of the breaking of a similar twinning 2 years ago.  Wick in Scotland and Klaksvik enjoyed a reciprocal partnership over the years, but because of the -ive public impact of the whale hunt, pressure was on for the sister agreement to be nullified. And it was.

Also as Cleo stated, the biggest money-spinner of the Taiji operation is the more recent in history catching and selling of live animals to aquariums. This brings large capital to the industry, enough to enable it to continue.

I don't believe the Klaksvik whaling community engage in commercial live sales, making a very clear distinction between the 2 towns. But I'm not 100% sure. Anyone have any info re this???

Time for the Sea Squirrel to make a series hassling the Faroe Islanders .......

The Faroes whaling has been actively protested against for years by many groups. Because you don't read / hear of it on mainstream media in Japan, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

That may be the case, but the protests never taker on the tone of similar protests against Japan. Read the comments on any article about Japan and whaling; they are filled with racist and hate-filled speech calling for murder and even nuclear weapons to be used against the Japanese. All of them, not just the whalers.

Until the anti-whaling groups strongly disassociate themselves from such hate groups, I will not take them seriously.

I know the Faroe Islands are officially part of Denmark but... I don't think I know a single Dane who feels we're the same country (yes, I am a Dane). Feels a bit weird seeing it be mentioned as a "Danish city."

I do actually have a friend from this area, and though I am very skeptical about this hunting, it's interesting to hear his view. They do eat a large part of the whales and get some of their livelihoods from it - according to him at least. But to be honest, I think it's mostly tradition. Seems like it's hard to convince people when the word 'tradition' gets brought up. Still, a tiny island like that may not have as many other options as the comparatively huge Japan.

Fun fact: Recently our statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, a national icon of Denmark, was painted red (vandalized) by anti-whaling activists because of Klaksvik:

http://politiken.dk/incoming/img5972035.fcda7y/ORIGINALS/original_615/Den%20lille%20Havfrue%20er-igen-blevet%20overmalet

Other than that, as a Dane it is also funny to see Faroe Islands being considered a part of Denmark, since they are actually functionally independent apart from foreign policy, so the Danish police doesn't have anything to say in this matter, it is firmly a Faroe Islands issue.

Wrong. The Faroe Islands get plenty of protesters, news reports. Did you even check?

Huh, check what? The number of articles published in the last 20-25 years, in all languages, about J whaling vs Faroe whaling vs Norway/Iceland/Inuits etc whaling? No I haven't, have you?

My point is although most ppl are well aware that Japan isn't the only whaling nation on earth, J as a nation and J ppl themselves cop more flak than others when it comes to whaling (from western media/ social media, ppl in general, activists/protesters i.e "The Cove" etc). More doesn't mean 'all' flak. Can I 'prove' it, no I can't but that's what I have noticed spending most of my life outside of Japan therefore mostly reading/listening to non-J news, non J ppl (that includes norwegians and other Scandinavians). Look at Bruce Parry's excellent doco (Arctic) in which he spent some time with Inuit whale-hunters. Doco's tone is very, very different to what we see/read/hear when J whaling is involved i.e in 'the cove' for example.

J are, rightly or wrongly, the bad boys/scapegoats of the whaling industry. Again that's my experience. But I have no problem with ppl like you who protest as vehemently against Faroe, Norwegian, Inuit etc whaling than they/you do against J whaling. Actually, we need more ppl like you!

Re my earlier inquiry - anyone found info concerning if Klaksvik captures live dolphins for the world aquarium market or not?

I'm seriously interested, as killing for food and selling live for lucrative financial returns are vastly different aspects of the supposedly same industry.

DisillusionedToday 11:42 am JST@ossanamerica - Except that the "whole world" couldn't care less one way or the other. Only the eco-terrorist worshipping emotionally driven sheep care.

Bwahahaha! Thank you for today's chuckle Ossan.

The truth is just that. It's neither funny nor sad. You're welcome.

Siblings of horror!

Except that the "whole world" couldn't care less one way or the other. Only the eco-terrorist worshipping emotionally driven sheep care.

Is that the best you can do? Same old insults to anyone with empathy or compassion? Typical right wing American.

Thunderbird2Aug. 10 10:36 pm JSTExcept that the "whole world" couldn't care less one way or the other. Only the eco-terrorist worshipping emotionally driven sheep care.

Is that the best you can do? Same old insults to anyone with empathy or compassion? Typical right wing American.

Best? That's the truth. Do you honestly believe that with all the issues this world is concerned about that whales (or cetaceans) rank anywhere up there in importance? Most of the world does not care one way or the other. It's fine to worship one animal for emotional reasons, as demented as it may be. But that's different from believing that the whole world is equally demented.

Is that the best you can do? Same old insults

Responded to with still more of the same old insults.

Thinking that it's in any way OK to terrorise, torture and slash away at any animal in the name of 'tradition' (heck, in the name of anything), is what's demented.

The kneejerk emotional, politically correct opposition to whaling is ridiculous.

Are the whale species that are hunted endangered? No.

Are the whales killed as humanely as possible? With modern, explosive harpoons, yes.

So unless you are a vegetarian who objects to the killing of any animal, then objecting to whaling is inconsistent and nonsensical.

cleoToday 07:25 am JSTIs that the best you can do? Same old insults

Responded to with still more of the same old insults.

Thinking that it's in any way OK to terrorise, torture and slash away at any animal in the name of 'tradition' (heck, in the name of anything), is what's demented.

Whether it's OK or not is not the issue. Humans as omnivores consume animals of all sorts as a source of protein. We have been doing it from before we went upright. It is part of what allowed the Human species to advance to the extent that some us can sit comfortably behind a keyboard as use emotionally driven words like "terrorize, torture, slash away" to describe the slaughter of animals for food, or choose to live entirely on a diet of vegetables and grains. Hell, even go so far as to torture our pet dogs by refusing to feed them animal protein. But to call others who are not affected by this emotionally driven non-rational obsession "demented" is quite literally ass-backwards.

Until The Cove is made for each Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and all the other egregious offenders, Japan's program should continue normally and even expand to match the mass slaughter seen in Norway. Otherwise any protest is hypocrisy to the worst extent and should be ignored. It is stupidity like this that got Trump elected

Humans as omnivores consume animals of all sorts as a source of protein....the slaughter of animals for food blah blah

You're barking up the wrong tree. As has already been pointed out to you, neither in Japan nor in the Faeroes are dolphins a 'source of protein'. The dolphins are not killed for food. The meat is toxic waste.