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Sea balance argument used by scientist to justify whale killing

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010830b6.htm

 

THEY'RE ALSO VERY TASTY

Sea balance argument used by scientist to justify

whale killing

 

By SHINYA AJIMA

 

KITAKYUSHU (Kyodo) Arguing that whales consume several

times more fish than humans and that their growing

population runs the risk of tilting the delicate

balance of the marine ecosystem, professor and food

scientist Kohmei Wani is leading a grassroots push for

the relaxation of worldwide bans on whaling.

The president of the Association for the Preservation

of Food Custom through Sustainable Whaling in

Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, argues the

International Whaling Commission needs to recognize

the benefits of Japan's research whaling and long

history of harvesting and eating whales.

 

Wani, 70, who teaches at Toa University, plans to

protest what he reckons is the excessive protection of

whales, at the annual IWC meeting to be held next

spring in the city. He said there is a need for

" cross-cultural understanding. "

 

" We have our whaling culture and enough scientific

data backing our trial to preserve it and leave it to

our descendants, " he said. " Our top task at the IWC

meeting in Shimonoseki is not to prepare for criticism

but to make every effort to help introduce our own

culture, which those opposed to the eating of whales

have never had a chance to know. "

 

Japan, which ceased commercial whaling in the

1987-1988 hunting season in accordance with an IWC

moratorium adopted in 1982, continues to hunt whales

for research purposes. It sells the meat for public

consumption, investing the proceeds in further

research.

 

A total of 10,452 whales, including 5,393 minke

whales, were sighted in the Antarctic during a

four-month expedition that ended in March, and

government-commissioned ships killed 440 minke whales

in total. Wani claimed the whale population is growing

and that larger catches would not adversely affect the

overall population.

 

According to Wani, the IWC Scientific Committee

estimated in 1990 that there were 760,000 minke whales

in the Antarctic and that a calculated annual harvest

of 2,000 would have no adverse effect on the

population.

 

Wani also argued that Japan enjoys a long history and

many cultural values related to fishing the seas

around the archipelago, and that whaling, long

depended on as an important source of protein, is just

another one of them.

 

But his arguments have so far been rebuffed by

antiwhaling activists and other members of the IWC. He

returned from London, where the 53rd annual IWC

meeting was held in July, where he campaigned on the

streets against whaling bans. He said the meeting was

dominated by cultural friction.

 

" I don't think that the IWC functions properly any

longer. What is happening now is just a lack of

understanding over why some nations continue to

whale, " he figured.

 

At the last IWC meeting, Japan was urged to stop

killing whales for research. The research programs,

conducted under the International Convention for

Regulation of Whaling, are meant to analyze the

reproduction activities of whales and their

consumption of marine resources, such as saury,

sardines and squid.

 

Japan has argued that the data produced by the

research are necessary to ensure appropriate

harvesting and conservation and to persuade IWC

members to agree to allow the limited catch.

 

But antiwhaling scientists have rejected the argument,

saying research whaling is merely a front for

continued commercial whaling.

 

Wani claimed the number of specific types of whales

has seen a steady increase, as opposed to antiwhaling

groups which support lower estimates. The argument

that whales should not be hunted because they are cute

or intelligent, is an argument Wani believes is out of

the question.

 

Despite the opposition, he said it is unrealistic for

Japan to drop out of the IWC and forfeit its right to

contribute to fisheries conservation and a

well-balanced marine ecosystem that could be

threatened by increasing whale populations.

 

According to Wani's civic group, it was during the Edo

Period (1603-1867) that whaling became a part of

Japan's food tradition.

 

The group applauded Japan's waste-free use of whales'

teeth, bones and whiskers for handmade products such

as sculptures or musical instruments, as well as their

skin, meat, fat and internal organs for food.

 

Shimonoseki, once a major base for commercial whaling

in the Antarctic, has been used since 1998 as one of

the ports for research whaling boats operating in the

Antarctic and Northern Pacific waters.

 

The civic group was set up by locals who want to

retain the tradition of whale consumption.

 

Wani, who came to Shimonoseki in 1991, was not

directly engaged in the whale industry until he was

chosen in April to represent the 300-member group,

some of whom own whale-food restaurants in the city.

 

" A certain food culture tends to get rooted in a

certain region, as should take place naturally,

depending on conditions like history, the environment

or local customs, " he reckoned.

 

Born in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Wani studied agriculture

in Japan and food science in the United States,

specializing in the diverse food cultures that have

developed around the world.

 

During his career at Snow Brand Milk Products Co., he

headed its health research facility, which was charged

with determining what foods could lead to longer life

or prevent diseases such as cancer.

 

Wani predicted that the rising world population, which

is projected to peak at around 9 billion in 2070, will

exhaust protein sources such as livestock and that

antiwhaling countries will acknowledge the need to

reduce the whale population.

 

The IWC meeting will be held from April 25 to May 24

in Shimonoseki, where representatives from about 35 of

the 41 member countries are expected to gather.

 

Ahead of the meeting, however, Wani said he wants to

bolster the group's ability to influence the IWC.

 

Wani and group members are planning to build a

memorial monument marking their appreciation of whales

and the blessings provided by the ocean.

 

" We as Japanese have appreciated and felt accustomed

to eating whales, " Wani said. " The monument will be a

nice surprise for representatives from antiwhaling

countries that used to catch whales only as industrial

resources, not as food, to gain substances such as

whale oil until substitute resources like crude oil

were found. "

 

The Japan Times: Aug. 30, 2001

© All rights reserved

 

 

 

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