Celebrating with sake, Japanese whalers bring ashore first catch

Repugnant.

At least the pool of workers are dying out and the "representatives" of this farce also. There are way more pressing needs for tax payer money than this. Fingers crossed a new more mentally agile generation can stear Japan into the 19th century.

"Move back! It would be bad if there's an accident," 

Yes, the accident would be a leaked photo of the wanton slaughter.

The pacific Sei whales are still on the endangered list.

"...then whalers in blue outfits, white boots and helmets, lined up to pour ceremonial cups of the Japanese liquor sake over the animal."

Translation: The whalers went through the motions of an empty and meaningless performance, put on for the media, using the cheapest grade of sake available.

And part of that whale will end up in local shops near me-reduced to half price-unsold-disposed of in the trash!

Do the hustleToday  07:34 am JST

The pacific Sei whales are still on the endangered list.

But Minke Whales are not.

Let's read the article.

".. the Japanese whalers brought ashore one of their first minke after the resumption of commercial hunting"

But Minke Whales are not.

Let's read the article.

".. the Japanese whalers brought ashore one of their first minke after the resumption of commercial hunting"

Let's read further:

Japan's fisheries agencies has set a quota for commercial whale hunting through December of 227 whales -- 52 minke, 150 Bryde's and 25 sei whales.

When you search Twitter for Japan, all you get is whaling news.

Whaling is damaging Japan’s reputation greatly.

The pacific Sei whales are still on the endangered list.

And the IUCN says they really shouldn't be on the endangered list any more, but they wait 5 years before removal. Expect the Sei whale to come off the list soon.

A ridiculous waste of tax money. People haven't eaten whale meat in so long that there won't be many buyers.

 set a quota for commercial whale hunting through December of 227 whales -- 52 minke, 150 Bryde's and 25 sei whales

Is that all the whales they intend to catch in a season? Then what was all the malarkey with trying to catch a thousand whales every season in the southern oceans for the last 30 odd years? Something doesn’t seem right.

Japan has really wide EEZ. It seems absolutely no problem as long as hunting inside. Coast guard would go there soon if any anti-whalers interfered their business.

A sad day for whales. A shameful day for Japan.

But Minke Whales are not.

I replied to this yesterday and I am still waiting for your answer. All mammals are endangered, all. As I told you yesterday, wild mammals represent today only 4% of living mammals,

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/25/6506

In fact humans have caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals. Another study,

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/44/11262

showed that without coordinated conservation, it will likely take millions of years for mammals to naturally recover from the biodiversity losses. So again no one with a properly formed brain can argue that it makes sense to start again any commercial whaling hunt. 

And since you are not replying with arguments and keep saying the same wrong things, why don't you stop trolling here?

Gross.

It’s wasteful to kill an animal which is not consumed for food but sent to the garbage dump!

@kwatt

Japan has really wide EEZ. It seems absolutely no problem as long as hunting inside. Coast guard would go there soon if any anti-whalers interfered their business.

This is not the case. In the west of Japan, about half is Korean EEZ and 1/3 is PMZ, which has specific species quota by the fishing treaty with Korea but whales are not on the quota. Japan's actual EEZ in the west side of Japan is very narrow, this is the reason why Korean coastguard and warships were operating only 60 km away from Japan's coast during the infamous P-1 radar confusion incident; they had the right to patrol there. Accordingly, Japanese whalers operate almost exclusively in the Pacific Ocean side of Japan, mostly from Honshu(Fukushima) and Hokkaido.

So much of whales caught will have come from Fukishima's water.

Please refer to following Reuters graphics for the whaling ground of each specific whale species.

https://graphics.reuters.com/JAPAN-WHALING-COMMERCIAL/0100B05008H/index.html

Good for them.

Their country, their culture, their right to eat whatever animal they choose.

Good luck to them and their new commercial venture.

I think it's silly that around 67 people complain about this, whereas when a tuna goes on sale people are more interested in the price.

 52 minke, 150 Bryde's and 25 sei whales.

Well, well. So that's a commercial catch quota, according to the IWC's scientific committee procedures. 

That's quite a few Bryde's whales, relative to how many were caught under the research whaling. 

I checked the IWC site now, the only population estimate they have there for Bryde's whales is almost 20 years old, but it put the number between 11,000 and 38,000 with 95% confidence (https://iwc.int/estimate).

150 of 11,000 (the lower bound of the estimate) is a mere 1.36%. Very conservative catch limit indeed (if still based on those old estimates, which may not be the case). Whether the whalers can catch that many, remains to be seen.

Don't forget it's all in the name of scientific research. I still find it hard to comprehend how blatant the lie was and how Japanese went along with it or outright believed it. Someone should research that.

I still find it hard to comprehend how blatant the lie was and how Japanese went along with it or outright believed it.

What lie? There were defined requirements for scientific whaling, which the Japanese maintained during their time in the IWC. When they were found to not be doing it correctly, they re-adjusted and started back up according to the requirements. There was no matter of opinion or anything, it was a clear checklist, of which Japan checked the boxes.

How is that a lie?

Is that all the whales they intend to catch in a season? 

No, there is a difference, between actual intent to catch, and what authorities determine as a safe quota that is permitted to be caught.

Then what was all the malarkey with trying to catch a thousand whales every season in the southern oceans for the last 30 odd years? Something doesn’t seem right.

There are millions of whales in the southern ocean, whereas there is no equivalent "northern ocean", hence less habitat and less whales. Catch quotas ought be set according to relevant and robust scientific knowledge, don't you think.

Don't forget it's all in the name of scientific research. 

Well, this is the Japanese saying it's commercial whaling, because they quit the IWC already...

Japanese don't eat whale meat anymore and the industry must be tiny. No justification for this.

Personally I eat anything but if an animal is protected then this should not happen.

fxgaiToday  10:58 am JST

Good luck to them and their new commercial venture.

Why? It may be legal and the argument could be made that it won't actually endanger any whale species but it's also outmoded, needlessly cruel and unlikely to survive without subsidies because hardly anyone actually likes eating whale meat. But they don't need luck when they've got compliant LDP politicians who want their votes.