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© 2019 AFPCanadian PM Trudeau criticizes Japan over whale hunt
By Daniel Bayer OTTAWA©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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© 2019 AFP
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Dom Palmer
And don't forget the meat sold to tourists and the other commercial uses the whales are put to.
That isn't the comparison. The comparison is one country that already left the IWC and issues its own permits to hunt whales, Canada, versus another country planning on leaving the IWC and issuing its own permits, Japan.
So, rotting meat that possible has disease or parasites?
Bluefin have an almost unlimited demand, at the very least a large unmet demand. While, as people keep pointing out, whales have a small demand that is being fully met. So, there is no incentive to commercially catch more whales than at present while there is a huge incentive to catch more bluefin.
They wouldn't be pirate whalers and Australian laws don't apply to the waters around Antarctica except maybe a 12 nm band along the coast of their claim where whaling generally would occur due to ice conditions.
theFu
https://us.whales.org/whaling-facts
According to that link, for 2016, here are the tallied whale killings by country:
0 Canada 46 Iceland (huge drop that year) 59 America 122 Russia 390 Japan 590 NorwayDidn't list them all and don't know how honest the numbers are.
Many species of whale are not endangered. I'd rather see 100% protection of bluefin tuna which are endangered than sea mammals that are not. Priorities.
Peeping_Tom
Clarification: jurisdictional rights, not sovereign.
Peeping_Tom
"Why did you get such an idea?"
Could it be because he's not making insane statements, such as this:
"I wouldn't be shocked Australia will be ready to send warships to detain Japanese pirate whalers in the Antarctica and prosecute them under Australian laws."
Or maybe because he knows that Australia's sovereignty rights stop at Australia's borders, not at Antarctica?
Perhaps, because he know that 50 years from now Australia will still be much smaller than Japan is now, stagnant economy and all that?
Samit Basu
@Matt Hartwell
Japan of 2039 won't be like Japan of 2019, which isn't like Japan of 1999.
Japan is an aging, declining country rapidly falling off the ranking of international influences.
If Japan were to return to the Antarctica for whaling after a 20 year hiatus in 2039, the outrage would be far more greater in Australia which would have grown far more environmentalist than it is today by then. So in fact the probability of a police action against Japanese pirate whaling ships is better than 50% in 2039.
@Peeping_Tom
Why did you get such an idea?
Peeping_Tom
@OssanAmerica,
One of the few on JT who actually knows his stuff; always a pleasure to read your posts.
Please, keep up the good work in bringing sense to some insane "logic", as displayed by most of the so-called JT "experts".
Btw, never eaten but would gladly sink my canines on a juicy whale stake; given a chance of course.
OssanAmerica
I raised the topic of Kujirazuka mainly to show that the belief held by some anti-whalers that the Japanese did not hunt and eat whale until after WWII is a total fallacy. A tradition did exist and these monuments were built to express gratitude and pray for the souls of the whales, something that is alien in concept to the Western nations that brought global whale stocks to the point of collapse for the blubber, throwing the meat overboard as useless.
Toasted Heretic
Sure, don't be someone who eats whales. You don't need to eat endangered species to survive, right?
cleo
I realise you're being rhetorical, but...
Yes?
Please?
Moderator
Readers, back on topic please.
Wakarimasen
Don't entirely disagree, Thunder. but many other creatures that we happily eat have feelings, are intelligent, mourn the loss of family members etc. Even octopiiiii.
Do we all go vegetarian?
Will Goode
Good point @thunderbird2
At what point of intelligence do we lose respect, or the ability to kill humanely (sic), surely the size and society of Whales is indicative of deep pain and memory.
Thunderbird2
@theFu
I doubt that very much... it would be seen as even more barbaric.
A modern 21st century country should not be hunting whales and slaughtering dolphins in the name of 'culture'... that applies to Norway and Iceland as well as Japan. They are doing it purely to stick two fingers up at the countries criticising them, there can't be any other reason than that. No-one eats the bloody stuff...
You know what really gets me though? It's that some people see whales as product rather than a highly intelligent wild animal that should be left alone. We're killing them through pollution, why heap even more misery on the poor buggers by chasing them and slowly, painfully killing them?
Wakarimasen
TRudeau should be campaigning to change their names also. Isn't "sperm whale" a bit chauvinistic? And how about Right Whale - a bit elitist or maybe even fascist? Longman's Beaked Whale - surely Longperson's Beaked Whale?
runner3
Good for you, a man with integrity!
Goodlucktoyou
Everybody should.
Meiyouwenti
Mind your own business, Trudeau.
proxy
Trudeau is probably upset because Japan is not viewing hunting through his "gender lens." As bad as Trump's reputation is, the idiocy that comes out of the Trudeau government is worse.
Matt Hartwell
The chances of that happening are somewhere between 0 and zero.
Australia won't do anything of that magnitude to offend Japan and what would be many Japanese nationalists I imagine for two reasons
1) Second largest trade partner and a massive buyer of Australia's key exports, including major stack holder in the worlds largest gas project.
2) Quad
3) America
Spidey
Melodramtic indeed. May I remind you of Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home? And I quote, "They like you very much, but they are not the hell 'your' whales."
S
smithinjapan
Burning Bush: "Aren't the Inuit also hunting whales and seals?"
Not on a mass-commercial scale and pretending it's for science while going into international waters, no. You also won't find Canadians jump up in faux rage defending the seal hunt or whaling in general Simply because others are against it. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who supports Canada's seal hunt, and most were enraged when a former PM (Harper, I think) did. But once again the argument for the indefensible is Simply, "Well, others are doing it!"
Samit Basu
There aren't that many whales left in Japan's EEZ, which is much smaller than what Japan claims to be in reality, and whales will be overhunted and its population decrease rapidly to support Japan's commercial whaling industry not satisfied with the previous annual catch of a few hundred whales if the blue fin overfishing by Japan is anything to go by.
So what will Japan do when whales run out of Japan's EEZ in 20 years? Go whaling in the Antarctica again? I wouldn't be shocked Australia will be ready to send warships to detain Japanese pirate whalers in the Antarctica and prosecute them under Australian laws.
wtfjapan
If theyre responsibly fished and populations are sustained then people eating whales doesn’t impact people who don’t whatsoever.
and yet Japan record of ocean conservation and overfishing is your answer.
Tony W.
There is no country in the developed or less developed world that Actually needs to hunt whales, but the Inuit people's metabolism has adapted over thousands of years to a diet rich in the meat and especially the blubber to provide a full complement of vitamins to maintain health in a part of the world where vegetables are still difficult to grow and land animals difficult or impossible to pasture. Canada is merely championing those of its people with special needs. Japan has no such excuse.
CyburneticTiger
Thats pretty melodramatic. If theyre responsibly fished and populations are sustained then people eating whales doesn’t impact people who don’t whatsoever.
Spidey
As a Canadian and a human being, this is an issue that affects all humanity. Just sayin'.
S
Matt Hartwell
I think the ordinary Canadian is starting to see through the gloss to realize there is nothing there and his economic management has been poor.
I'd like to see Jordan Peterson v Justin Trudeau. How epic would that be. Poor ole Justin, floundering for words I imagine.
zones2surf
What I find interesting is this:
-- Abe and Trudeau spoke.
-- The only reason we know they spoke was because Trudeau's office released a statement.
-- While I can't find the actual statement, all reports seem to mention only this one issue.
-- There is no reference to anything else being discussed, although possibly there was.
So, let's see...
-- Are we supposed to believe that these two world leaders spoke by phone and this was the only thing they discussed?!
-- Or were other things discussed and this was covered in the statement from Trudeau's office, but this is the only point that the press has run with in their stories?!
It is all rather strange. Because if this was literally the only thing they discussed, how exactly did this conversation happen?!
Trudeau: Yo, Shinzo, I wanted to call you to specifically discuss this whole Japanese whaling issue.
Abe: You're calling to discuss that? Just that, Justin?? Not TPP, not trade in general, not anything other than that?!
Trudeau: Yup, Shinzo, this is a top top priority for my government, so wanted to talk about it.
Abe: Alrighty, then. Seems weird, but OK, go ahead....
Just very strange that this happened and that there is no broader context to how / why this conversation occurred.
wtfjapan
The west with their ‘our way of life is best’ mentality on full display.
No just from experience. They almost hunted them to extinction and now realise conservation is moral course of action. Seems Japan are the ones that show "there way or the highway" mentality is whats causing all these problems. Japan pathetic record of ocean conservation and overfishing is proof if that.
wontond
As a Canadian, I really wish Trudeau would focus on important issues that affect Canadians. Instead of trying to prove that he's ultra-progressive.
sf2k
Good for Canada. That's leadership. Japanese have moved on from whale meat a long time ago and this would help provide some international cover and incentive for ending it. Of course, downvote all you want (but then run for office).
Wakarimasen
Bet Funzo was rolling his eyes during this part of their chat. Trudeau is so lacking in credibility. I think Japan is ridiculous in its attachment to whaling, but equally don't see that this should be a top priority issue for Wet Justin to bring up.
krustytheclown
I'm not a proponent of whaling but I am not a Justin Trudeau fan either. The guy has no credibility whatsoever and he has only himself to blame - idiotic comments about "peoplekind," making a complete and utter fool of himself on his visit to India, and so on. He really needs to focus on domestic issues (Alberta energy especially) and mind his own business.
OssanAmerica
Yes they do.
"A Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) investigation has documented the practice of commercial wholesalers commissioning subsistence whalers to supply the demand by supermarkets. Whale products in Greenland are sold in 4-star hotels."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_meat
And as far as "respecting" the ocean, did you look up "kujirazuka"?
Ganbare Japan!
Brilliantly said. Also Green land and Iceland. The difference between all these nations and Japan, is they are white/European. Culture Imperialism and racism is at play, when others bully Japan.
Lindsay
Thats an outlandish claim without any reference to support it. Do you have links to where you gained this information?
Jenna Mary Ellen Kelly
Canada, Norway, the Faroe Islands, and during some years America, all kill more whales than Japan does.
Lindsay
How long do you think this will last? Two or three years?
@Ossanamerica - Do you actually believe that tabloid rubbish you are quoting? People ‘ate’ whale meat all over Japan in the 70’s and early 80’s because it was force-fed to them in elementary and junior high school lunches. At present, only around 5% of the population eat whale meat and of those only 2.5% eat it regularly (more than twice a month). Go out on the street or ask the people in your office if they eat whale meat and how often. I’ll bet you’ll be lucky to get two positive responses out of a hundred.
Ricky Kaminski13
Toasted* your argument is purely emotional, just like your boy T. If anything Japan has been forced to whale only in its own territorial waters which is actually a win. But no, there is zero space to move once you have the ultimate moral high ground to dictate. Please tell the world how we all should live some more.
theFu
Sure. But this article is about whaling and what Canada is saying about it.
Taking a whale for food means harpoons, historically. Human bodies are designed to eat meat. There's no getting around that.
Matt Hartwell
Guess I was talking modern era, but correct. Matty wrong.
OssanAmerica
Nothing like an erroneous belief based upon an erroneous article. Did you bother to read the link I posted? Please google "kujirazuka". It is true that rather than create a nation of fat Japanese loaded with SPAM, GHQ decided to reactivate the Japanese Whaling fleets to put protein into the Japanese diet. However post WWII is not when the consumption of whale meat started.
"A German medical doctor Philipp Franz von Siebold paid attention to the Japanese's love for whale dishes. He came to Japan in 1823 as a medical doctor for a Dutch business house. He wrote "Fauna Japonica" (Record of Japanese Animals) based on his research during his stay in Japan. He wrote the following about the Japanese utilization of whales: "...the right whale's meat is very delicious and it is a major part of the diet. Whalers sell whales to fish wholesalers. People eat the whale's meat, blubber and internal organs and take oil from the inedible parts. All over Japan, people eat whale meat. The taste of the right whale is similar to the bull or the buffalo, and is hard a little. Although they eat both row and salted whale meat, salted meat tastes better. Salted blubber is eaten sliced. Fins can be eaten. The salted blubber can be used as a medicine for chronic diarrhea, and it is effective for stomach ailments and general stomach health. Powdered fin relieves constipation and oil is a medicine for scabies..." He clearly recorded that whale could be used not only as a source of food but also for medicine."
http://luna.pos.to/whale/jwa_trad.html
kwatt
It seems all right that Japan hunts sustainable amount of whales in its EEZ as long as they do't go to Antarctic and Alaska. Norway and Iceland do. Japan seems to have valid data of 3 decades on It can hunt some amount.
Toasted Heretic
Or virtue signal that you are above this type of thing and instead, browbeat Trudeau for having the courage and conviction to stand up to this cetacean slaughter.
The time of commercial whale-hunting is over. Leave these magnificent beings alone.
AgentX
Was thinking the same thing.
Ricky Kaminski13
Of course he does. TrueDough, Mr SJW himself. A pitiful excuse for a leader. Virute signalling his way to sound bites. Having a guy like this on your side is a great way to energize the whalers. Bet Abe felt a new quite sense of resolve after that phone call.
browny1
Matt - I believe you are Australian, which would make your commment -
"..I am a Westerner with no history of it in my country...."* appear rather strange.Australia hunted whales for centuries contributing greatly to some species endangered status.
As a university student in the '70s I know very well that whaling didn't cease until late '70s because there were many protestations against the industry.
And people mentioning traditional ethnic whaling practices on a miniscule scale, and comparing such to modern factory whaling are way off beam.
As stated many times before - the commercial hunting of whales industry is caphoot. It cannot stand on it's own and should die a natural death like so many industries around the world whos time has come.
AgentX
Good on Trudeau! Good to see that some leaders in the world still use their influence for humanity and decency. Whales are a highly intelligent and peaceful species, we would do a lot better to treat them with the respect they deserve.
Because Japan's fishing quotas are notoriously unsustainable - Trudeau obviously has a point. Some people want fish and whales to be around for generations to come, and some people rightly point out that inhumanely killing off whales is a complete waste of this intelligent animal. not to mention that it is completely unnecessary.
As whaling is a source of toxic national pride, don't expect anything in Japanese waters to be 'off-limits'...
Seth M
*correction: skulls
Seth M
@theFu like breaking seals hulls with clubs? that looks very much a "non-factory method"
theFu
If Japan hunted whales in Japanese waters using non-factory methods, the international out cry would be far less. Actually, I'd cheer for Japanese whaling from small boats near their shores where a community comes together to take a whale to be shared throughout the town.
Toasted Heretic
Not all traditions need upholding. And Japan is not a small group of peoples sustainably fishing the whale, so comparison with the Innuit is not applicable.
Matt Hartwell
You could interpret that statement in many ways and knowing the lack of spine that Trudeau has that is probably exactly what he wanted. He would never outright ask for Japan to desist even if that is genuinely what he wanted.
Reality is that if Japan wants to maintain a whaling industry going forward they will need to monitor populations, set quota's etc and those quota's will have be informed by science, not guesswork.
I don't particularly like the whaling industry but then I am a Westerner with no history of it in my country and really the only justification there would be for me seeking an outright ban from countries like Japan is if the numbers were in serious decline. If they are Japan should do the right thing and desist, if they are not, they need to be really serious about managing the industry. They should realize that if numbers fall considerably, they are going to get a sizable portion of the blame....want to avoid that.
Don't worry too much about Justin, he will probably go off and have a cry.
Could be in real trouble come the next election
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/12/19/trudeau-approval-rating-poll_a_23622710/
Alex Einz
what? he has no other issues pertaining to Canada to think about ?
I dont even support whaling , but so tired of people sticking their mouth where it shouldnt.
cleo
It's impossible to kill a whale humanely; after a terrifying and exhausting chase, the animal is struck with an explosive harpoon that does not cause instant death in up to 20% of hits. Instead the animal dies slowly and painfully from evisceration and loss of blood, while being dragged through the water with hooks stuck into its flesh. Or, unable to lift its head to breathe, the whale drowns.
So yes, regardless of whether supply exceeds demand (which it does), eating whalemeat means you are deliberately causing unnecessary and barbaric suffering to an animal most of whose body will be simply tipped overboard.
If you must eat whalemeat, find one that had washed ashore and died naturally.
While I appreciate Trudeau taking a stance on whaling, I'd also like to see him take a stand on the Canadian seal hunt.
Yubaru
Certain communities, have indeed hunted whales for centuries, but it was not a part of the overall diet of Japan as a whole until following WWII. Japan also did not hunt the souther ocean for whale until the 20th century!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35397749
Samit Basu
Canada should just sanction Japan. All countries should sanction Japan until Japan surrenders and stops whaling.
OssanAmerica
It seems strange that a country that left the IWC 37 years ago is dictating to a country that just left. But moreso, it seems strange that a country is dictating what another can or can not do in it's own waters.
"Originally a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Canada disagreed with efforts in 1980 to declare a moratorium on commercial whaling. Canada argued that, in the absence of a clear and scientifically-justified recommendation for such action from the commission’s scientific committee, conservation requirements could be met under the commission’s management procedure, which provides for selective moratoria. Canada’s position on the moratorium issue earned a great deal of criticism from anti-whaling groups around the world. Canada withdrew its IWC membership in 1982 in protest over this issue. "
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/vision-green/environment/whale-hunting
OssanAmerica
Whales have been hunted and eaten in Japan for at least 1000 years.
http://www.facts-about-japan.com/whaling-history.html
CyburneticTiger
I'd like to get people's opinions on eating whale meat. Why do you think its wrong? Why do you think other people should not be allowed to eat it?
Personally, I enjoy the taste of whale meat and eat it as frequently as I can. If whale populations are responsibly managed and supply doesn't exceed demand is it a bad thing?
Dango bong
stick to issues that matter please not this nonsense
Ganbare Japan!
Culture Imperialism. Why doesnt left-wing Trudeau also attack Canadian Aboriginal people who kill whales and Seals? These people are no longer primitive, and hunt with modern technologies. Hypocrisy. The Abe Cabinet will not listen to Trudeau.
Yubaru
And do the Inuit have 120 million plus population? The world's 3rd largest economy? And more importantly an government that thumbs their nose at international conventions based upon a false belief that eating the meat of a whale is a national "cultural" tradition?
Japanese for the most part only had whale in their diets following WWII because of the poor economy and lack of food following the war.
Whale consumption has dropped to almost nothing here by comparison, it's only the small group of politically boisterous hunters and fishing collectives that spend a lot of cash on politicians, that keeps this issue alive!
Comparing the Japanese to Inuit is a poor comparison, as the Inuit do it to survive, particularly in their harsh environment, and they never take more than they need either and respect the ocean for giving them the whale too!
Oh they dont make any money on it either!
Akie
Since when Japan becomes a province of Canada ?
Yubaru
Down here we get literally hundreds of whales as they pass by Okinawa in their yearly migrations. Whale watching tours are quite popular, and folks love seeing the majestic beauty of these incredible whales!
I hope that we wont being seeing any hunters now too!
seanwd20
The west with their ‘our way of life is best’ mentality on full display.
semperfi
Burning Bush : Aren't the Inuit also hunting whales and seals?
Yes they do.
Particularly the bowhead whale.
It is done as part of a cultural tradition - and also largely because whale meat provides high amounts of protein and fat .
They use other parts, as well for tools, etc.
Toasted Heretic
Good on him. At least some leaders take animal conservation seriously.