Guest guest Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 TO WHALE OR NOT? Is Japan justified in seeking a resumption of whaling? Are antiwhalers justified in demanding that it not? E-mail your thoughts to: community http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050621a1.htm Should we hunt whales? Whaling makes no economic sense By TIM SCOTT Don't get me wrong, I'm all for shooting whales. Get a bunch of tourists, put them on boat, send it out to the North Pacific and let them fire off some rounds for an hour or two. Of course the ammunition used would be Kodak and Fuji stock, but it's a lot more humane than blowing them up. And it doesn't make the water go all red. With the exception of some Japanese and Scandinavian fisherman, a few Japanese scientists and the Japanese government, in the minds of most people -- whale hunting ranks up there with clubbing baby seals as, well, kind of nasty. But forget the graphic images, emotion and PC rhetoric of the anti-whale lobby There is another reason why we shouldn't be hunting Willy. Simple economics. Whales are more valuable alive than they are dead. Despite whaling industry claims, today there is little demand for the bone, blubber, meat, and oil that whales once supplied. At the same time, however, the demand for and profitability of whale watching has increased. Research by scientist and author Erich Hoyt in 1995 on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare found considerable growth in the international whale watching industry. In Japan alone the figure soared from 55,000 whale watchers in 1994 to more than 100,000 in 1998. He says: " There has been steady growth in whale watching in Japan and Norway, and the figures show that it is increasingly economically important to communities in both countries. " As of 1998 the total value of whale watching in Japan was estimated to be more than $32.4 million, That's a lot of people taking photos and spending money on crappy whale tea towels and calendars. Nearly 30 Japanese coastal communities, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, are involved in the business and most of those coming to " Oooh " and " Ahhh " are Japanese. " It is ironic that Japan and Norway, who defy the international ban on whaling by using loopholes in the legislation, are now finding that whales might be worth more alive than dead, " says Karen Steuer, of Commercial Exploitation and Trade at the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The benefits of eco-tourism activities such as whale watching are spread over a larger portion of the population than whale hunting; in addition to whale-watching operations, those operating stores, hotels and restaurants can enjoy increased employment and revenue opportunities. The Japanese whaling industry employs only a few hundred people. So why does Tokyo continue to push a defiantly pro-whaling stance that brings it international condemnation and conflicts with its more cooperative and progressive position on other environmental matters? Arrogance? Perhaps. It continues to avoid the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) worldwide moratorium on whaling by hunting whales in both the Antarctic and the North Pacific, claiming that these whales must be killed to answer critical management questions. But what of the repeated claims that there just isn't enough whale meat available down at your local sushi joint? Frank Cipriano, a professor at San Francisco State University, reported in June 2003 that a DNA analysis of Japanese pet foods purchased by the Environmental Investigation Agency from supermarkets in Shizuoka and Otsuchi, near Tokyo, found the dog chow mixed with Antarctic minke whale and dolphin meat. That find would seem to undermine Tokyo's claim that it needs more whale meat -- unless it's for its chihuahuas. Japanese authorities often claim that the anti-whaling movement (the West) is trying to destroy a Japanese tradition that stretches back unbroken over millennia. But while they would have us believe that whaling is as Japanese as sumo, baseball and getting inebriated at Friday night work drinks, it seems the public is rather indifferent on the subject. Only 11 percent of people surveyed in 2000 said that they supported Japanese whaling; nearly two-thirds had not eaten whale meat since childhood; and over half opposed whaling or said that they had no view either way. Subsequent polls in 2001 vindicate these findings. While some might try to convince us that the people of Japan are united in their desire to eat whales, it's more a case of " Whaling? Whatever. " http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050621a2.htm Should we hunt whales? Hunting of whales is a necessary evil By MELANIE BURTON The pro-whaling position anguishes those nations that resent Japan's apparent cruelty. But believe it or not -- like it or not -- Japan's case for the resumption of commercial whaling is strong enough to have IWC nations reconsidering their positions. Change is unlikely to occur this year, due to the two-thirds majority required to effect it, but it's on the horizon. According to the whaling convention (ICRW), Japan's catches are legal, and technically, as no profit is made from the sale of whale meat, not commercial -- check Article VIII. But is it just a loophole ripe for exploitation? The driving force behind the 1982 whaling moratorium was that data on whales like age and reproductive rates was difficult to gather. " The research catch by Japan was launched to answer such questions, " says The Japan Whaling Association. To determine how fast a specific population grows, its sexual maturity, rate of reproduction and life span among other things, must be tested. For example, from an Antarctic population of minke whales asserted by the IWC to be at 760,000 in 1990, (from an estimated 80,000 a century ago) 440 (0.25 percent) " is the smallest number required to obtain statistically valid results, " according to the Institute of Cetacean Research. Contrary to the stance of countries like Australia, the IWC acknowledges that information pertaining to age and reproduction cannot be determined without lethal catches to, for example, analyze ovaries. Why should whales be exempt as a commodity? There are over a billion people out there who hold a four-legged animal sacred and Westerners continue to chow down on Big Macs. If you're prepared to eat beef, why not whale? One reason why whaling hits the heart of the West is that during the '70s and '80s, whales became a symbol of the environment's vulnerability. Think friendship, Flipper, Free Willy. In Japan too they occupy an important place in the country's psyche. Masayuki Komatsu, alternate commissioner for Japan at the IWC, writes about Japan's whale culture. At Koganji temple in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the souls of over 1,000 whales are interred, along with 75 whale fetuses on the top of a hill, where he says, they can " command a view of their ocean home. " He goes on to point out, " An approach where the Japanese accord the whale (the) status of a person because of its integral role in sustaining human life can clearly be contrasted with the view of cattle in the West, where no such status or respect is conferred. " Although Japanese consumed whale as early as 3500 B.C., it didn't reach the plates of commoners until the Edo period. In 1947, whale constituted about 47 percent of Japan's protein, according to the ICR. Whale meat had proved a solution to a country in dire food shortage. This has left a strong impression on Japanese. While we're on the West and whale culture, let's note that in the group of countries that decimated the populations of blue, right and bowhead whales in their search for oil (remember Moby Dick?), England and America were present while Japan was not. As the '70s hit with the glory of petrol, the importance of whaling for those economies waned. Last year 49 percent of Australia's exported beef was to Japan to the tune of 2 billion Australian dollars. Economically, exporters aren't interested in a resumption of whaling. Moreover, the destruction wrought by cattle farming on the environment ought not to be underestimated. In a report released last week, the United Nations FAO estimated that South America's forest will decrease by 18 million hectares by 2010. " Growing demand for animal protein is one of the driving forces . . . It is urgent that alternatives are found. " When one beef cow supplies 0.3 tons of meat, and a minke whale yield equals 12 cattle, potential environmental benefits become clear. There are health issues too. Whale meat is high in protein and iron and low in cholesterol. Baleen whales like minkes feed on krill, and Antarctic krill are devoid of toxins like mercury, unlike fish caught near cities, and not pumped full of hormones, as are cattle and chicken. When the world's forests are being depleted, and half its population doesn't have enough food, it seems indulgent for wealthy nations to call whales off limits because whaling " is no longer required to meet human needs. " The Japan Times: June 21, 2005 © All rights reserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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