Japanese whale fishing

Hello guys !

This is not the topic of the week, but I think it’s still interesting to talk about Japanese whale fishing.

Japan isn’t the only country that hunt whales, there are Greenland, Norway and Iceland, so, I will just present what I know about Japanese whale fishing.
Currently, Japanese people were able to hunt whales for “scientific studies” in any oceans thanks to an agreement signed in exchange for not hunt for business.

Of course, that’s an outward appearance since a lots of whale meat were sold on the market, so, all the world knew that Japan didn’t respect the agreement. The last month, and more precisely December the 26th 2019, Japan has decided to leave the International Whaling Commission and return to an official hunt of whales for business. Then, this July 2019, whalers will be allowed to hunt but only in exclusives zone and territorial waters.

So, what do you think about it ?

Hi !
I don't know a lot about this subject except what you said. I think it is really sad to continue to hunt the whales. I think the ones they fish are not endangered, and there are "only" 1000 whales fishing per year, so comparing to other animals, it is not a lot. It is part of they culture, and we all know how it is hard for a country to abandon a part of its culture. (I know in class I was agreeing with you, I still do, but now I checked if the whales are endangered and they are normally not, so how could we forbid them to fish them and we can still fish the other animals, and kill all the other animals for our food ?)
But I also know about an other practice which is terrifying about sea animals in Japan. In Taiji, each year, the fishers slaughter a lot of dolphins.
The dolphins are very famous for aquatic parks and zoo in Japan. It can cost 150 000$ to buy a dolphin for a park. So they organize each year a kind of event, they use ships to make the dolphins go to a specific place, then they choose the most beautiful dolphins, and they make the others go to a bay and they kill them all, to make food. A lot of dolphins die every year, so much that the sea becomes red when it happens, because of the blood.
This is also part of the culture of Taiji, but I think this is just crual. Now they only do that for money. And moreover, when they sell the meat of dolphins, they most of the time say it is whales meat, to increase the price.
For me these animals (whales, dolphins) should not be fishing, but I think it is hard to talk about a culture which is not ours, if the animals are not endangered. It is like if the indian people (who don't eat beef) was telling us to stop eating beef because for them it is not normal to do it.

Hello !
"For me these animals (whales, dolphins) should not be fishing, but I think it is hard to talk about a culture which is not ours, if the animals are not endangered. It is like if the indian people (who don't eat beef) was telling us to stop eating beef because for them it is not normal to do it."
Yes Justine if it a source of alimentation and the species is not endangered, it is normal that they eat it.
For sur they have to avoid the animal suffering. I hope with this authorisation the fishing whales will be better framed.

Hi,
I totally agree with Justine, "It is like if the indian people (who don't eat beef) was telling us to stop eating beef because for them it is not normal to do it.". In fact, for india people it's sacred animal.

Me too, I don't know a lot about this subjet but I saw a documentary (it's like Taiji, as said Justine). The documentary that I saw was about a old cultural practice in Denmark, the "Grindadrap" : it's the flipping and slaughtering of entire families of pilot dolphins in the Faroe Islands. It's a tradition saying like "barbaric" by foreign people but protected by the government.
Formerly, this hunt was an opportunity for young fishermen who are initiated to prove their virility. Every year, between several hundred to a thousand whales and dolphins are caught and killed. If I have understood, the grindadrap required a great co-ordination of the fishermen on boats. The idea was to "encircle" a group of whales or dolphins and take them to a bay and so cetaceans were stuck in the shallow waters.
The fishermen who remained on the shore stepped into the water and dragged the whales to the rim with ropes and hooks, then stabbed them and slaughtered them with big knives (grinds) while breaking their spine. It's difficult to explain. Local authorities distribute meat and whale blubber to residents free of charge, who bring them home to prepare the meat. A well-conducted Grindadrap could feed the entire village for months.

it's seems very hard and the water become red like blood. But I think we can critical because it's an ancestral practice.....

I'm taking the time to finally answer your post about whales aurelie.
When you told me about this, I was actually offended at first. I didn't know people on this planet were fishing for it.
I did some reading and realized that it is a very old tradition. I am curious to know what they are doing with it... Do they eat it? It feels very strange to me. But I understand the revocation of this agreement. This fishing is part of the tradition and I find it normal as a former food sociologist that these populations keep their traditions.
However, as a citizen of the 21st century I am very disappointed. Whales as well as all other living creatures in the sea must be protected in order to preserve as much as possible the resources at our disposal. It looks a little ecological, but there are too many disappearing animals today... Except us

Should we be any more horrified by the Japanese hunting whales than we are by the French farmer breeding and killing sheep?

Does the whale have any more right to a natural life than a sheep?

Are we only concerned about the whale for our own selfish human reasons?

What beautiful animals they are though!

Admin wrote:Should we be any more horrified by the Japanese hunting whales than we are by the French farmer breeding and killing sheep?

Does the whale have any more right to a natural life than a sheep?

Are we only concerned about the whale for our own selfish human reasons?

What beautiful animals they are though!

The same question has come up with the seal babies. There are so cute and adorable that everybody wants to save them. On the pretext that an animals is more adorable than another, he has "more" a right to live. Humans has really the right to decide who live and who die ? Nobody wants to save spiders for example.

Marion.LM wrote:

Admin wrote:Should we be any more horrified by the Japanese hunting whales than we are by the French farmer breeding and killing sheep?

Does the whale have any more right to a natural life than a sheep?

Are we only concerned about the whale for our own selfish human reasons?

What beautiful animals they are though!

The same question has come up with the seal babies. There are so cute and adorable that everybody wants to save them. On the pretext that an animals is more adorable than another, he has "more" a right to live. Humans has really the right to decide who live and who die ? Nobody wants to save spiders for example.

I agree with you. Depending on our judgment on the animal, we will more or less be sensitive to its death. But it's true in principle that whales are like sheep, cows or rabbits. I think you just have to be in the right measure, actually.
And I think that many people don't think about the fact that "killing" an animal makes it possible to food populations and it's like that forever. But for everything to work in a stable eco-system, it's necessary to be in moderation.