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posted by n1 on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-the-london-whale dept.

A recent law promoting whaling allows Japan to take a key step towards resuming commercial hunting of the giant mammals that are "a great source of food," officials said on Thursday.

Japan defies international protests to carry out what it calls scientific research whaling, having repeatedly said its ultimate goal is to whale commercially again. In the 2016-2017 season, its fleet took 333 minke whales in the Antarctic.

The new law, passed in June, will help enshrine as a "national responsibility" an activity that was previously just a tacit policy, said Shigeki Takaya, director of the Whaling Affairs Office at Japan's Fisheries Agency.

"While the government has given its support to the implementation of scientific research into whales, it is heartening to see that the law clarifies its position even further," Takaya told a news conference.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan should halt Antarctic whaling.

Per the Huff, Japan's government thumbs its nose at international law at the behest of their commercial fishing industries, and gives permission to "deal with" protesters.

In a 2012 poll conducted for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), 88.8% of the Japanese public said they had not bought any whale meat in the past 12 months. While 26.6% said they supported Japan's scientific whaling, 18.5% opposed the hunts and the rest of the population were undecided, hardly a ringing endorsement of Japan's bloody whaling policy.

Much of the whale meat brought in from the scientific whaling scheme is being held in warehouses, frozen because it does not sell well on the Japan market. Sales of dolphin meat have also plummeted. Because sales of whale meat are so poor, the Japan government has subsidized the scientific whaling scheme at 5 billion yen ($44.7 million US) annually.

Furthermore, the new legislation allows Japan to send vessels to Antarctica with the fleet specifically to deal with harassment from such organizations as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which seeks to interfere with whaling activities they contend violate international law. [...] The legislation also gives new authority to Japan immigration enforcement to deal with people who may be "likely" to sabotage or harass whaling vessels in Japan. This is an obvious effort to legalize the blocking of people, such as members of Sea Shepherd, who come to Japan to legally and peacefully protest the dolphin hunts in Taiji.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:08AM (14 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:08AM (#542727) Journal
    OTOH, whales probably have intelligence comparable to humans. To me, this seems too much like cannibalism. A courtesy we extend to other humans (namely, that we don't eat them) seems reasonable to extend to any animal with near human intelligence as well.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:22AM (#542731)

    No, I don't see any whales shitposting here, unless you're a whale.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:37AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:37AM (#542740) Journal

    OTOF(lipper), whales probably have ...

    FTFY

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:34AM (9 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:34AM (#542754) Journal
    "OTOH, whales probably have intelligence comparable to humans."

    [Citation needed.]

    Yeah, no, that's almost certainly false. They're big mammals. So are cattle.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:00AM (4 children)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:00AM (#542767) Journal

      "OTOH, whales probably have intelligence comparable to humans."

      [Citation needed.]

      khallow said this. He his own self is a large mammal. He would know. I trust him on this. Since I assume he is human.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:12AM (3 children)

        by Arik (4543) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:12AM (#542777) Journal
        I am human. I suspect you both of being cabbages, however. Explain yourselves!
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:54AM (2 children)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:54AM (#542786) Journal

          "They talk with their meat!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tScAyNaRdQ [youtube.com]
          "Maybe they are like the Wedolai?" "No, we probed them all the way through, they are made of meat". Whale meat? As good as any meat.

          • (Score: 1) by Arik on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:24AM (1 child)

            by Arik (4543) on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:24AM (#542796) Journal
            "They are born meat, and they die meat."
            --
            If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:40AM

              by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:40AM (#542799) Journal

              And, they talk with their meat. "What does the thinking?" "The brain does the thinking, it's made of meat." Am I not made of meat? If I am harpooned, do I not bleed?

              If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a whale wrong a human, what is his humility? Revenge. If a human wrong a whale, what should his sufferance be by human example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

              "Whale of Venice", Shakemyspear, slightly altered. So, have you seen the White Whale, Arik? Where doth he betides? Speak, man, that I may sloth my vengeance!! Or be ye Japonesse?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:00PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:00PM (#542880) Journal

      Yeah, no, that's almost certainly false. They're big mammals. So are cattle.

      Humans are big animals too. Your criteria needs to be a little more specific.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by dry on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:22AM

      by dry (223) on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:22AM (#543282) Journal

      They don't post with an unreadable font, so at least they're more intelligent then you, a big mammal comparable to cattle and fine to harvest for meat.

    • (Score: 2) by CoolHand on Monday July 24 2017, @12:12PM (1 child)

      by CoolHand (438) on Monday July 24 2017, @12:12PM (#543644) Journal

      "OTOH, whales probably have intelligence comparable to humans."

      [Citation needed.]

      Yeah, no, that's almost certainly false. They're big mammals. So are cattle.

      There is a lot of research showing that whale and dolphin intelligence is in the neighborhood of humans, and some research showing it might be higher. Because they lack good methods of using tools (no hands/thumbs), and a lack of resources to fashion into tools, due to being aquatic, so that has hampered their "development" into a civilization comparable to ours. Also, cows are pretty darned intelligent, at least as much as dogs, and should not be eaten either if there are plant based options.

      --
      Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday July 24 2017, @04:08PM

        by Arik (4543) on Monday July 24 2017, @04:08PM (#543742) Journal
        Look at it again buddy. Lots of research going back to the 60s *aimed* to show that, but in that respect at least it's all failed.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:01AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:01AM (#542821)

    OTOH, whales probably have intelligence comparable to humans.

    Then why is Norway and Iceland whaling?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Norway#Commercial_whaling [wikipedia.org]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Iceland#Commercial_whaling [wikipedia.org]

    Why are people eating monkeys? Literally, they don't raise chicken, but kill everything that moves in the forest.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/05/why-west-africans-keep-hunting-and-eating-bush-meat-despite-ebola-concerns/ [washingtonpost.com]