Japan agrees to stop hunting humpback whales

[Sarapva]

The Japanese government agreed not to kill the 50 humpback whales in the Southern Ocean that they'd planned to hunt this year because of opposition from Australia and other countries in the International Whaling Commission. No other decision has been made yet. Japan will continue to hunt minke and fin whales.

But it sounds like the outcry against the Japanese whaling is heating up, especially from Australia's new prime minister, who has promised to be more diligent in opposing Japan's whaling.

Japan abandons plans to kill humpback whales

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071222a1.html

 

[centrajapan]

Japan did not stop due to pressure from Australia. This was in accordnce to other whaling countries such as Greenland who also agreed to stop the hunt of humpback whales until next year until they have even more scientific data on the stock estimates. Aussies are so full of cr@p and they are not aware of how stupid they look. A bunch of religious freaks. The anti whaling movement that is.

Australians are cute funny people out in the outback on a walk about. Australia is against whaling yet they eat other type of meat. Japan will still continue its very highly respected Sceintific hunt for the minke whales which are no where near endangered.

I hope Australians are just as loud condemning the indegenous people of North America on their stance on whaling. Why should it be any different? Japanese are indegenous people too.

From one whaling culture to an another. Brothers in arms. Down with racist Anglo Saxon imperialism.

 

[tokapi]

Back in the 1980's,Olivia Newton-John cancelled Japan concert tour in protest against slaughtered of dolphins by Japanese fishermen.

 

[Elizabeth van Kampen]

From one whaling culture to an another. Brothers in arms. Down with racist Anglo Saxon imperialism.

Hello Centrajapan,

Why is there so much hate in you? If you have fallen in love with one country, doesn't mean that everything in other countries is wrong, you know.

 

[centrajapan]

Australia is wrong. I don´t understand why Japan is willing to put up racist crap from countries like Austraia in the first place. I´m sure if people protested Norway´s whale hunt the way Australia is doing towards Japan, Norway would tell Australia and all the other countries and rightfully so to stick their head in a place where the sun never shines.

Imagine the Nazis one day condemned the Dutch for eating cows. The Nazis say it is inhumane to eat cows so we will do whatevert we can to make you stop killing cows. But you can eat pigs and horse like the Nazis do but not cows because cows are cute and magnificent animals. cows are special to us.

The Nazis are hell bent on making the Dutch stop eating cows no matter what. However they don´t mind if the Belgians eat cows or the Danes but no, not the Dutch. They can not eat cows.

Fascism did not die in 1945. It comes in new shapes and forms. Anti whaling racist Australia is a good example of that.

 

[Kyoto Returnee]

Australia is wrong. I don´t understand why Japan is willing to put up racist crap from countries like Austraia in the first place. I´m sure if people protested Norway´s whale hunt the way Australia is doing towards Japan, Norway would tell Australia and all the other countries and rightfully so to stick their head in a place where the sun never shines.

Imagine the Nazis one day condemned the Dutch for eating cows. The Nazis say it is inhumane to eat cows so we will do whatevert we can to make you stop killing cows. But you can eat pigs and horse like the Nazis do but not cows because cows are cute and magnificent animals. cows are special to us.

The Nazis are hell bent on making the Dutch stop eating cows no matter what. However they don´t mind if the Belgians eat cows or the Danes but no, not the Dutch. They can not eat cows.

Fascism did not die in 1945. It comes in new shapes and forms. Anti whaling racist Australia is a good example of that.

Centrajapan, are you going for Japanese citizenship?

 

[Sarapva]

Back in the 1980's,Olivia Newton-John cancelled Japan concert tour in protest against slaughtered of dolphins by Japanese fishermen.

Olivia Newton-John was ahead of her time!

According to this article, Japan backed down from hunting humpbacks because of pressure from the U.S.:

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centrajapan - It seems that one of the objections the Japanese have to western interference in their whaling is that they think westerners think whales are "cute" or majestic; in other words, they seem to think it's based on aesthetics instead of realizing that people around the world actually care about the world's environment (not just their own country), and can actually empathize with whales and other animals. This is one area Japan seems to be way behind in. I hope, for Japan's sake as well as the rest of the world, that the younger generations have more ability to feel what another person or animals feels.

The world's objection to whaling has nothing to do with race - I think using race in the argument is the last resort of those who don't have a good argument.

 

[Homerduff]

Australia is wrong. I don´t understand why Japan is willing to put up racist crap from countries like Austraia in the first place. I´m sure if people protested Norway´s whale hunt the way Australia is doing towards Japan, Norway would tell Australia and all the other countries and rightfully so to stick their head in a place where the sun never shines.
Imagine the Nazis one day condemned the Dutch for eating cows. The Nazis say it is inhumane to eat cows so we will do whatevert we can to make you stop killing cows. But you can eat pigs and horse like the Nazis do but not cows because cows are cute and magnificent animals. cows are special to us.
The Nazis are hell bent on making the Dutch stop eating cows no matter what. However they don´t mind if the Belgians eat cows or the Danes but no, not the Dutch. They can not eat cows.
Fascism did not die in 1945. It comes in new shapes and forms. Anti whaling racist Australia is a good example of that.

I guess I don't have to point out the difference between a cow and a endangered animal specie.

 

[Haruspex]

Aussies are so full of cr@p and they are not aware of how stupid they look.

Judging by this comment it seems you aren't aware either.

From one whaling culture to an another. Brothers in arms. Down with racist Anglo Saxon imperialism.

what? People of whaling cultures have more space in their skulls, so basically they're more advanced humans, and are destined to enslave and rule the rest. Especially:
a, Exiles
b, People who descend from colonizators in the west
c, People whose neighbors eat haggis.
d, People who descend from colonizators in the north-west (with the exception of Quebec because they have Jean D'Arc in their history, even if it all happened on a different continent)
By the way, have you figured out how to peel off the St Patrick and St Andrew flags before burning the UK flag? You could try a plain St George flag, but hey, that would be boring, thats simply not enough to show off the superiority of certain whaling countries.

Do not get me wrong, I don't necessarily disagree with your views, simply this presentation was a bit hostile.

 

[Rose Selavey]

Hi All,

what wonderful news that japan has decided to stop to hunt Humpbacks in the Southern Ocean. The reason they have done this is up to the Japanese propaganda machine, us international forces will never know why or who influenced this decision.

As to racist comments about Australian People I think that centrajapan needs to come and visit meet the people and realise that from no matter what culture you come from, deep down we are all the same.

All the letter writing has paid off for the humpbacks, now back to the desk for more about the minke and fin whales need to happen.

Thanks for this forum it has been an insight.

 

[centrajapan]

What wonderful news that Japan will kill more whales this year than last year and all the close minded racist bigots from Aussies and the disrespectful attutude they have against Japan does not change a damn thing.

Bon apetit. Stick to what you know which is not whaling.

 

[Haruspex]

Bon apetit. Stick to what you know which is not whaling.

Yes Master, we ordinary folks have no right to question your Superior Whaling Majesty.
I must apologize, how could I, a lowly landlubber comprehend the incomprehensible depth of the issue.

 

[Elizabeth van Kampen]

all the close minded racist bigots from Aussies and the disrespectful attutude they have against Japan does not change a damn thing.


centrajapan, you dare to say quite a bit about the Australians.

This is a nice Forum where we all get the chance to argue, and often we don't agree, but we stay polite.
I always tell myself; " If he/she could come to Amsterdam then we can talk while drinking a cup of coffee with a piece of apple pie with whipped cream to make us both sweeter"

 

[Sarapva]

....come and visit meet the people and realise that from no matter what culture you come from, deep down we are all the same.

All the letter writing has paid off for the humpbacks, now back to the desk for more about the minke and fin whales need to happen.
Thanks for this forum it has been an insight.

Yes, I agree - we're all the same deep down, and calling each other names doesn't help anything.

And yes - this is wonderful news for the humpbacks and the people, but the minke and fin whales are still in the firing line of the harpoons. One whale killed, no matter what the species, is too many.

 

[centrajapan]

Hello. As my post seem a bit hostile allow me to explain. I don't think it is any worse to eat whale meat than other types of meat. I don't understand why Australians are so hell bent on making Japan stop hunting whales. Why are they so pre occupied with it? Rose is telling who is a racist? Am I telling you to stop eating kangaroos or beef? No, I am not. So why are you telling me to stop eating whales?

I am also curious. Do you have a slightest clue of which whale spieces is about to go extinct? Anser. None of the whale spiecies Japan is hunting or wants to hunt. The truth of the matter is. The North Atlantic Right Whale is about to go extinct. There are less than 500 of them off the coast of USA. The reason why they are about go to extinct is because ships keep ramming into these whales. No one has hunted the Right Whale for centuries. US and other commercial interests don't want to change the route on the cargo ships because that means longer time and time is money.

Where is the outcry Australia? This just proves that Australia is driven more by hate of Japan than love of whales.Japan has been hunting whales for 2000 years longer than there was such thing called Australia. They need to clap it and leave IWC which stands for International Whaling Committee.

 

[centrajapan]

Do you guys know that the various Native American Nations hunt Humpback and other whale spiecies which are much closer to extinction? Where is the outcry?

I would like to see Greenpeace activists and other anti whaling fanatics beating up Native Americans and creating a havock while they hunt whales.

 

[Haruspex]

Japan has been hunting whales for 2000 years longer than there was such thing called Australia.

Please, I beg you, bring Pangea into the picture.

 

[Sarapva]

The North Atlantic Right Whale is about to go extinct. There are less than 500 of them off the coast of USA. The reason why they are about go to extinct is because ships keep ramming into these whales. No one has hunted the Right Whale for centuries. US and other commercial interests don't want to change the route on the cargo ships because that means longer time and time is money.

You're right about this, centrajapan:

This is from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW):

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whales - of which only about 300 survive today - are especially vulnerable to both entanglements and collisions with ships. At least 72% of North Atlantic right whales have scars from entanglement, while collisions with vessels account for half of all their known deaths. In 2004, IFAW launched a pilot program in Massachusetts, USA to help lobstermen replace dangerous floating rope with whale-friendly sinking rope.

http://www.stopwhaling.org/site/c.f...__Entanglements_and_Ship_Strikes__IFAW_US.htm

It's the U.S. that should be trying to do something about this, though. Australia is protecting the whales they know near them.

 

[Rose Selavey]

CentraJapan,

You have consistently posted broad stereotyped exaggerations about Australians for no reason other than ignorance and obviously do not have/know much information about Australian culture. You have mentioned Japans great whaling history, well Australia has a whaling history too. We have an indigenous history with whales which goes back over 40 000 years (a few more than Japan's 2000 years), a European history since white invasion in which Australia participated in the near extinction of the Humpback whale, and now a new cultural relationship with whales in the form of communication and protection.

You are constantly stating that Australians cull kangaroos to extinction, but as I have said before four species are culled (for meat and if you go by your previous arguments in the most sustainable manner, ie from the wild and from large population groups not endangered).

This post started with Sara posting the fantastic news that Japan had offered an olive branch to Australia and 31 other nations which signed a demache presented to the Japanese government. If Japan would like to hunt whales for Traditional reasons as other indigenous cultures around the world do, then the small coastal villages which would have participated in whale hunting should go to the IWC and apply. If Japan wants to travel half way around the globe to hunt whales for commercial purposes they will have a fight on their hands. The so called whale research which is currently being undertaken by the Japanese whaling fleet is not research, it is an attempt to find a reason to be in Antarctic waters. With video footage and data collected by the Australian government aboard the Ocean Viking this season Japan will find themselves in the International Courts.

 

[centrajapan]

The USA is a whaling nation, as bowhead, beluga and gray whales are hunted by the Alaskan Eskimos. They take about 50 bowhead whales annually. The Alaskans also catch a few hundred beluga, 238 in 2000.

highnorth.no

Now US is a hypocritical anti whaling whaling nation. Their stance is really hard to understand. They are the fist country to wipe a whale spiecies off the face of the earth, they hunt 50 bowhead every year but they are against Japan hunting minke and bowhead. Very well thought out, good rational logic by USA.

Australia is an anti whaling fanatic country. Each country when they become members of IWC sign a declaration.

The objective of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling states that it shall "... provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry." Furthermore, it states that depleted stocks are to be preserved, but that "... increases in the size of whale stocks will permit in-creases in the number of whales which may be captured." All decisions made by the Whaling Commission are to "provide for the conservation, development and optimal utilization of the whale resources, ...shall be based on scientific findings" and "shall take into consideration the interests of the consumers of whale products and the whaling industry." The IWC member nations are obliged to work actively towards the fulfilment of the treaty's objectives.

If they do not agree with the IWC's objective then countries can choose not to sing a declaration. US has chosen not to to sign the Kyoto and a couple of UN human rights conventions.

Australia signs a document and work against what they have agreed upon. Honest people honour treaties. All international cooperation is totally dependent on pacta sunt servanda (the respect for treaties).

Therefore Australia should leave IWC.

Japan are adhering to the principle of sustainable utilisation, in accordance with the Whaling Convention. Australia is adhering to the principle of no utilisation, for what they on a cultural basis consider as "special animals". It is the first position that is modern and sophisticated. The cultural imperialism practised by Australia is a concept of the past.

highnorth.no

Australia is looking at the Japanese as barbaric people that should be sunk in the bottom of the sea by their Navy vessels. Whn the truh of the matter is that Australia is barabric because they are practicing culture imperialism and disrespecting the document that they have signed under.

Japan has been giving out olive branches since 1986 when they agreed to stop hunting whales due to uncertanties in stock estimates. It's time for anti whaling cultist nations like Australia to take a hike.

Australia misses the point again.

http://www.icrwhale.org/071114Release.htm

Australia and other anti whaling fanatics show ignorance and disregard science.

http://www.icrwhale.org/070725Release.htm

 

[centrajapan]

If Japan would like to hunt whales for Traditional reasons as other indigenous cultures around the world do, then the small coastal villages which would have participated in whale hunting should go to the IWC and apply. If Japan wants to travel half way around the globe to hunt whales for commercial purposes they will have a fight on their hands. The so called whale research which is currently being undertaken by the Japanese whaling fleet is not research, it is an attempt to find a reason to be in Antarctic waters. With video footage and data collected by the Australian government aboard the Ocean Viking this season Japan will find themselves in the International Courts.

Japan is denied to hunt minke whales in local waters by IWC because of anti whaling fanatics like Australia. Japanese whaling is traditional because they have been hunting whales atelast 2000 years. No culture is static. Each culture evolves and it should be up to the people to decide how their own culture should evolve and not some outsider. Besides, modern technology makes whale hunting a more humane operation. I would be against hand held harpoons and rowing boats because that would make the death of whales more painful and not to mention the lives of a whaler to be less safe.

You say whaling should only be allowed if they do traditionally implying that they use primitive catching methods. What kind of an attitude do you have towards people who eat whales? Are you saying that if they modernise themselves they should stop eating whale meat?

Eating whale meat is far more environmentally-friendly than eating beef, lamb or pork. Harvesting nature's surplus means that biodiversity and habitat does not have to be destroyed and turned into agricultural land.

Whaling does not destroy the environment and is very energy efficient – producing beef requires much more energy than producing whale meat.

 

[Sarapva]

This is an argument that will probably keep going for years. Whaling nations will want to keep whaling, and will criticize any attempt by other nations to try to stop them. I looked over some of the High North Alliance web site, and it seems to be biased. This is an exerpt about the IWC meeting in 2007:

Japan's plans to include humpback whales in their scientific whaling program will be highlighted. And since this is the first meeting after Iceland resumed ordinary commercial whale hunting, they may also be in for some attention, but Icelanders are Westerners so they may get away without any really harsh criticism.

When the US gets what it wants, it shows no gratitude. On the contrary, the US then focuses on its second priority – making life hard for the whalers for the next four years, until it once again must behave a short time to secure the renewal of the whaling quota.

Ignorance of the plight of the North Atlantic right whale demonstrates that all these save-the-whale groups are not guided by love to the whales, but hate for the whalers, Japanese whalers in particular. If they were guided by compassion and love, the future for the right whale would have been bright.

highnorth.no

Although I can see some points are valid here, the High North Alliance seems to be fueled by anger. Going along in this vein won't get us anywhere.

 

[centrajapan]

Anti whaling seems to be fueled with anger, ignorance mixed with racist attitudes towards people who choose to eat a certain type of meat which is unacceptable for fanatics like yourself Sarapva.

Whales are no better than any other type of animal or worse so why the hysteria?

Here are some good lines which I agree with.

Humanity must take no more from nature than nature can replenish".

"While our survival depends on the use of other species, we need not and should not use them cruelly or wastefully".

"We have a right to the benefits of nature but these will not be available unless we care for the system that provides them".

"A use is sustainable if it is within the resource's capacity for renewal".

"Renewable resources are the base of all economies: people cannot live without them. They include soil; water; products we harvest from the wild such as timber, nuts, medicinal plants, fish, and the meat and the skins from wild animals; domesticated species raised by agriculture, aquaculture and sivilculture; and ecosystems such as those of the rangelands, forests and waters. If used sustainably, such resources will perpetually renew themselves. But because much present-day fishing, exploitation of forests and use of grazing land are not sustainable, the future of human communities is threatened. "

"Minerals, oil, gas and coal are effectively non-renewable. Unlike plants, fish or soil, they cannot be used sustainably."

"In most countries wild species and uncultivated ecosystems are an important resource. Harvests need to be regulated if they are to be sustainable. Local needs should have priority over external commercial and recreational uses."

 

[Sarapva]

I'm much more convinced that the pro-whalers are fanatics than I am that the anti-whalers are.

 

[Kyoto Returnee]

Australia is looking at the Japanese as barbaric people that should be sunk in the bottom of the sea by their Navy vessels.

Don't be ridiculous!

Australian's are very fond of the Japanese.

Just because we disagree with what 00.01% of the Japanese population wants, doesn't mean we wish to sink them with our naval vessels. LOL..

I honeslty find it difficult to understand how you come to this conclusion.