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Whaling season begins

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42 Comments

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Restless:

All that comes to mind is “Utterly unnecessary.”

What's unnecessary to you is a delight on someone else's dinner table.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

"Whale meat may be cheaper than beef, pork, chicken whatever. Any imported meats become more expensive than ever and they may stop exporting to Japan in the future. A long time ago Japanese used to eat whale meat almost everyday."

This is complete and utter poppycock used as propaganda by the current and recent Japanese governments. Coastal whaling did take place. Local communities did eat whale meat but it was not transported around Japan as it was impossible without refrigeration. Whaling was seasonal as the most common coastal whale, the Right Whale, migrated off the coast of Japan. Other parts of the whale were used such as whale oil, baleen and bones. These products could be transported. We now have substitutes for these products.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Greenpeace where are you

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Deer are kind of sacred in Japan, whales are not… so think this part you may have overlooked.

They aren't 'kind of sacred' at all, which is why they are widely hunted. You may have 'kind of' overlooked this part due to feeding them in Nara at some point.

Japan, no longer an IWC member, is not bound by the moratorium and is catching whale species in international waters that available scientific data indicate are not endangered

Japan still freely kills endangered whale species in its own waters.

So you wouldn’t be first in the line to buy some whale product.

Whale meat sold in Japan (on Yahoo! amongst other places) exceeds Japan's own safe limits for mercury contamination by up to 47 times. And whale meat mislabelling is common. When you buy whale meat, you don't know what whale you are getting or how toxic it is.

But I'm sure your kids are worth it.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Their country..

Their culture..

Their customs..

Their rules..

...and other people's opinions. What's your point? You realize that most first-world countries give freedom of speech where people are allowed to debate opinion, right? And that you're actually a beneficiary of that by being able to criticize governments on this very site, right?

 

...right?

Their whales..

Whales own themselves. They don't belong to anyone.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

@TokyoLivingToday 

Their country..

Their culture..

Their customs..

Their rules..

Their whales..

GO JAPAN !!..

Stick to it then. But make sure you never voice an opinion about any global matter. Keep your opinions relevant only to the small world in which you live.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

So there are lucrative alternatives to whaling

Yeah but what has that got to do with people who want to catch and eat whales?

if the whalers decided to hunt deer on a wide scale

Whalers catch whales, not deer.

and make it available everywhere and cheap, I would be the first in line to buy it and buy it consistently as long as its cheap.

Good for you.

So you wouldn’t be first in the line to buy some whale product.

Each to his/her own, right? Human freedom, right? Do you require permission from whalers to go about whatever your personal business is? They don’t require the permission of people who aren’t involved in their business, to go about it.

Never really understood why they need to whale when they could make a fortune with deer farms.

Deer are kind of sacred in Japan, whales are not… so think this part you may have overlooked.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Fair enough if there was a huge demand and they were taking them in Japanese waters but there isn't and they don't

I thought that since Japan withdrew from the IWC, it has restricted whaling to its territorial waters. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

2 ( +4 / -2 )

The IWC, an international WHALING body who's raison d'être is the regulation of sustainable commercial whaling and conservation (not its outright prohibition), is grossly delinquent by decades on reexamining their TEMPORARY global commercial whaling ban based on current population/species data to consider whether commercial whaling on any scale can/should be reintroduced. Japan and other historically whaling nations have understandably chosen to leave the IWC as it has become a dysfunctional farce of an organization that ignores its own charter and gives equal voice to non-maritime member nations who have little to do with whaling. Japan, no longer an IWC member, is not bound by the moratorium and is catching whale species in international waters that available scientific data indicate are not endangered. Japan has the right to do what they are doing regardless of your personal feelings towards whales.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Japanese people have no issue with whaling.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

The other meat they could farm would be wild boar, of which there is a lot of in Japan

So there are lucrative alternatives to whaling

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Will pass on the monkey meat but will join you for a venison BBQ!

I really wish the J-Gov could just fund deer farms for those whalers instead of the money they pour into this industry. Venison is not only popular but very healthy. They really don't need to whale if they have a venison industry. it is easily doable.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Why not start getting rid of all the deer and monkeys in this country, too?

I don't know that anyone would want to eat monkeys, but if the whalers decided to hunt deer on a wide scale and make it available everywhere and cheap, I would be the first in line to buy it and buy it consistently as long as its cheap. Venison is my favorite meat. Never really understood why they need to whale when they could make a fortune with deer farms.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

nothing in the TPP that says whaling is part of the agreement, if Japan wants to hunt in their waters fine, but dont trek halfway around the world in the name of science, China can also claim theyre fishing near Japanese waters in the name of science also

that's my point. why didn't they put it in there? why is OZ and NZ willing to have economic cooperation without putting an end to whaling as a condition? that's my point. Put your money where your mouth is.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

The whaling migration season has just begun in South West Western Australia where we see four species - humpbacks, Southern Rights, Minkys and the mighty Blue Whales - often very close to the shore in Geographe Bay near Dunsborough. I once was privileged to see a pod of five blue whales swimming only a few metres just after dawn from the Bay's best whaling observation area of Point Piquet. My camera is ready for this season! The only way to 'hunt' whales! You don't need to go out in a boat to see them - although whale watching cruises are available in this magnificent bay. The whales come into Geographe Bay to rest on their journeys, very often accompanied by their babies. It's an amazing sight - even better when they start 'singing' - one of the most impressive experiences nature provides. The season goes through until Nov/early December. Volunteers and scientists monitor and study the whales here without killing them, using many of today's advanced technologies.

Once you witness this migration through Geographe Bay, I doubt very much you will ever again support a whale kill. Japan is a smorgasbord of other wonderful foodie treats without needing to resort to whale meat.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

@TokyoLiving

If I sail my boat into Japanese waters does it meant it becomes Japan's boat?

7 ( +12 / -5 )

@TokyoLiving

Their whales..

No they aren't.

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Even those at home in the comfort of their modern, urban environs can see Japan’s choice here is just another antiquated and unnecessary commercial exploitation of a species.

That whaling ship doesn’t look antiquated to me? The harpoon technology looks a darn sight more efficient than the older methods used to catch whales?

And name me one specific thing is this world that isn’t “unnecessary”? That’s a straw man. Eating whatever anyone pokes a stick at is “unnecessary”, but that doesn’t mean we choose to eat nothing - we eat a variety of things instead.

And why does “commercial” trouble you? Humans offering goods and services to other humans is what “commercial” is, and it is a human activity that’s been going on for many centuries.

What those opposed, from their urban environs, need to come up with, is a rational reason for a specific activity undertaken by people of another culture ought end? It’s 2021, an era of increasing diversity and tolerance. Wake up. Get woke. There is no issue with a little whaling by the Japanese.

-12 ( +2 / -14 )

Thin the herd. Oishi ne.

-18 ( +2 / -20 )

Hug a whale lately?

-16 ( +0 / -16 )

As an amateur photographer and admitted former forest huntsman, I can appreciate your points on conservation through the periodic and necessary culling of a few diseased animals from land-based, wild flocks and herds.  However, this is not the case with cetaceans.  

Even those at home in the comfort of their modern, urban environs can see Japan’s choice here is just another antiquated and unnecessary commercial exploitation of a species.

11 ( +16 / -5 )

“You’d have to be a sofa environmentalist to be against sustainable whaling.”

With all due respect Mr. Fxgai sir, may I ask, what exactly is YOUR practical experience at sea regarding the conservation of these cetaceans?

6 ( +13 / -7 )

maybe this boy will learn to love and respect the seas and devote his life to conserving all of nature’s creatures rather than just exploitation for profit.

People earning a living by providing food for others is a entirely human and humane activity. How could anyone be against this?

Conserve does not mean to “not take any”. It only means to “take sparingly”. Catching whales in a sustainable way is conservation of whales, by definition.

People lost the original meaning of words back in the day when cultural emotions got the better of them. It’s 2021, people need to get over their preconceptions already.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

The whaling Japan has engaged in for decades has been sustainable. Whaling back in the 1960’s wasn’t sustainable, but there are better scientific simulations now based on observation data alone that show whaling at some level is sustainable.

At a time wheat grain prices are sky high, catching whales and eating those is an entirely rational approach, and thoroughly compatible with environmental sustainability and conservation.

It’s also Japanese culture. One can read about whaling at least as far back as 17th century literature such as Ihara Saikaku’s famous “Eitaigura”, which is a collection of stories of town people and their ways of earning wealth.

You’d have to be a sofa environmentalist to be against sustainable whaling.

-14 ( +5 / -19 )

1 condemn whaling, but I also condemn the nations that complain about it and yet sign the TPP into effect as if there were no problem.

nothing in the TPP that says whaling is part of the agreement, if Japan wants to hunt in their waters fine, but dont trek halfway around the world in the name of science, China can also claim theyre fishing near Japanese waters in the name of science also

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Their country..

Their culture..

Their customs..

Their rules..

Their whales..

GO JAPAN !!..

-24 ( +7 / -31 )

I condemn whaling, but I also condemn the nations that complain about it and yet sign the TPP into effect as if there were no problem. Its just lip service. Either firmly condemn it and do something about it or keep quiet

-15 ( +1 / -16 )

I do not support Japan’s choice for continued commercial whaling. I am however touched by sentimentality of the boy sending off the man who may be his father, waiving goodbye in the hatchway of the ship.

While this photo appears to promote an element of Japan’s nationalism,

maybe this boy will learn to love and respect the seas and devote his life to conserving all of nature’s creatures rather than just exploitation for profit.

Peace is wished to all who see this here today.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

There is no need for whale oil anymore and whale meat in Japanese schools is an unnecessary and wasteful “cultural legacy”.

There are still so many Japanese people who love to eat whale meat besides school lunch. That is why govt allow them do seasonal hunting. That would be sustainable smaller amount of whales, not great number.

-14 ( +3 / -17 )

Outrageous!!!

4 ( +11 / -7 )

Happy hunting!

-21 ( +5 / -26 )

Yes, Mr.Kipling, “The government should not be subsidising whaling.” Conservation of endangered species should be a priority before it is too late.

Whale hunting was last necessary for sustain communities 200 years ago but the advancement toward commercialization is no longer necessary today.

There is no need for whale oil anymore and whale meat in Japanese schools is an unnecessary and wasteful “cultural legacy”.

10 ( +16 / -6 )

Fair enough if there was a huge demand and they were taking them in Japanese waters but there isn't and they don't, on top of which they are usually taking these whales from Australias exclusive economic zone but I guess those rules only get enforced for "bad" countries break them like China and Russia....

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

Not all whales are endangered. Some whales are endangered but some whales are not endangered at all. They say Japan is hunting sustainable amount of those whales during the season.

-16 ( +4 / -20 )

But.. but… it’s for scientific research… isn’t it?

Not any more.

-3 ( +11 / -14 )

Whale meat may be cheaper than beef, pork, chicken whatever. Any imported meats become more expensive than ever and they may stop exporting to Japan in the future. A long time ago Japanese used to eat whale meat almost everyday.

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

'Research'? What research?

0 ( +12 / -12 )

But.. but… it’s for scientific research… isn’t it?

0 ( +13 / -13 )

I could think of a few choice words. How’s about “Nothing scientific here”? It says “commercial” twice.

Japan doesn’t even pretend to disguise their whaling anymore as “for scientific research purposes

since their withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission and return to commercial whaling in July 2019.

15 ( +24 / -9 )

There’s no appropriate word-play title for this dismal topic today.

All that comes to mind is “Utterly unnecessary.”

15 ( +26 / -11 )

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