The article really doesn't do a good job of explaining what's going on, in particular:<p>> It means Japan will be able to freely hunt species currently protected by the IWC, like minke whales.<p>Japan has already been hunting Minke whale, in 2016 they killed more than 300[1].<p>What's changing here is not the facts on the ground, but a maneuver in international diplomacy. Japan, Iceland and Norway have opposed the IWC's total ban on whaling. Japan has, until now, decided to work around this by claiming the whaling is "scientific", an obvious farce. It's been commercial whaling in all but name. Iceland and Norway have made no such claim, but issued commercial quotas in defiance of the moratorium.<p>Now Japan is going to withdraw from the IWC entirely, which e.g. Canada did a long time ago[2] citing similar arguments.<p>They're also going to restrict their whaling to their "territorial waters and economic zones", i.e. stop hunting in the Arctic. This was arguably the most controversial part of what they were doing before, e.g. Iceland and Norway don't hunt whales outside of their EEC.<p>1. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan#Antarctica" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan#Antarctica</a><p>2. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Whaling_Commission#Allegation_of_politicising_science" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Whaling_Commissi...</a>
People often defend these kind of acts with the rationale that it is a culture heritage. If so, shouldn't they be sailing the ocean with traditional wooden sailboats and relying only on wind and currents to take them where they should go?
Denouncing the consumption of meat from certain species of animals (like whales or dogs or foir gras) while happily eating burgers and chickens and tuna is utter hypocrisy.<p>We need to work with Japan and other whaling countries to set sustainable quotas. But the condescending moral judgements need to end. There's nothing inherently different about eating a whale and a hundred chicken.<p>Personally I try very hard not to be a hypocrite. I'll eat anything, and have tried many things people find objectionable (horse, whale, rabbit, shark, etc.). I know about myself that I'm not willing to go full vegetarian or vegan, and actively choose to eat meat. While I hate vegans that try to force their choice on others, I do appreciate the clarity and lack of hypocrisy of vegans who choose it for themselves. What I really hate is the hypocrisy of those who try to judge others for their choices while being no better themselves (meat eaters who complain about what other meats eaters eat)
Can we please have a global moratorium on all fishing for a few years? We are fishing the seas empty. I'm more than happy to pay for my share of the unsold/uncaught fish. This is such a disheartening example of the tragedy of the commons.
According to the article “
Pro-whaling nations expected the moratorium to be temporary, until consensus could be reached on sustainable catch quotas.”<p>If this fishing is truly sustainable and doesn’t threaten the whales with extinction there shouldn’t be a problem. Why should whales get protection that pigs, cows, and other animals don’t?
Just recently I learned that Japan is not the only country that hunts whales. It seems Norway also does it and to a larger scale.<p>This isn't an excuse for Japan, just sharing this info for others that might unaware that Japan isn't alone in this.
I don't even eat meat but I find it difficult to be angry about this when at the same time at home we have millions (billions?) of farm animals live in absolutely terrible conditions. Reminds me a little of the outrage in CA about horse meat. There are plenty of people who think eating horse meat is morally wrong while at the same time they eat some salad with bacon on top. Why is a horse better than a pig? Certainly not because they are smarter.<p>The only difference I see is that whales are more in the open while the suffering of farm animals is neatly hidden away from most of us.<p>We should strive to treat animals much, much better but that should apply to all and not just to a few favored ones like whales while forgetting others.
Three facts.<p>1. Most of Japanese people have exactly <i>zero</i> interest about whaling.<p>2. Nor they do not understand why western people get so upset about it. ("What's so different with, say, tuna fishing?")<p>3. Anti-whaling protesters (e.g. Sea Shepherd) are really worsening the situation. Their "activism" (like stealing whale meats) is perceived as, at best, stupid.<p>This is really a communication problem, guys. Whaling could have been ended many years ago, if no one made such a big deal out of it.
Well they never really stopped, they just claimed it would be used for research and the meat was sold after the research was done.<p>From the article "Japan has caught between about 200 and 1,200 whales each year, saying it is investigating stock levels to see whether the whales are endangered or not."
> Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said commercial whaling would be restricted to Japanese territorial waters and economic zones.<p>Someone needs to invent an underwater whale call (like a duck call) to lure the whales away from Japanese water.
Disappointing. We share one planet. Nations need to be held accountable by each other for the amount of resources they consume and how they do so. And in this case whales are not even within Japanese territory...
What's a sustainable level of whaling?<p>Whale beef is totally delicious, but I'm wondering if Norways catch is sustainable and I can continue to enjoy it.
As one commentator, Michael Cucek, pointed out (0), this could result in less whales being killed. There isn't that much of a market for whale in Japan and whaling operations have mostly been subsidised for "research" purposes.
(0)<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/MichaelTCucek/status/1075607243742097408" rel="nofollow">https://mobile.twitter.com/MichaelTCucek/status/107560724374...</a>
There is zero reason for whaling in Japan beyond the governments desire to protect a dying industry and a political need to look strong to conservative / right wing / nationalist voters. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Japan (collectively nearly 3 years) and visit once a month for work. None of my Japanese friends or colleagues will eat whale. They find the whole thing silly and feel the industry should just end. Their collective ages are between 30 to 70 and they represent a good cross section of backgrounds. This is a nitch right wing issue.
Well this is quite rational policy (tongue in cheek). As population of Japan is getting older and older it makes less and less sense to bother with longer term perspective on sustainability of the planet.
As far as I am concerned, as a Canadian, I would remove the 'most favored nation' status from Japan. This would add import duties to all Japanese imports to Canada. that would far exceed any whaling profits.
If you can not persuade them peacefully, 'club them to the ground' by adding the USA to also deny them MFN status.