The Japanese are slaughtering whales again

24 comments on “The Japanese are slaughtering whales again ”

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1. freedom 1

   7 January 2014 at 1:44 pm

   “My personal view is that the exception is bogus as a clipboard and pencil rather than a harpoon should be sufficient in determining whether existing numbers of whales are now such that commercial hunting can resume.”

   perhaps they want to scientifically prove that slaughtering whales will lead to their extinction 🙁
2. Bill 2

   7 January 2014 at 2:00 pm

   Why doesn’t the NZ government simply tell the Japanese government that, as from today, all imports from Japan must carry a verifiable ‘free from nuclear contamination’ certificate? (Genuine public health concern that should have no problem in the face of any trade legislation)

   Small country – not much impact on Japanese exports. So undertake to publicise far and wide and loudly should anything slated for import to NZ be found to contain levels of radiation poisoning.

   I reckon that could do it.

   Although…seeing as Hillary (we came, we saw, they died) Clinton undertook a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy towards Japanese goods post Fukushima and since Johnny Boy is so enamoured by the US admin…

   Anyway. My point is that there are many ways to skin a cat. You just got to want to.
   • Tracey 2.1

     7 January 2014 at 2:27 pm

     You mean interefere with trade possibilities for the future???? Wash your mouth out.

     So far my google search just brings up Key commenting about the TTP in 2013 rather than his extensive talks with them about anything else?
     • freedom 2.1.1

       7 January 2014 at 3:00 pm

       what search terms did you use Tracey?
       Google result from ” John Key whaling japan ”
       https://www.google.co.nz/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=John+Key+whaling+japan&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=7l7LUtH0GIubkwXNsoEg
3. Tracey 3

   7 January 2014 at 2:24 pm

   Murray McCully ought to release a press statement of a message he has sent to Japan and the Institute for Cetacean Research which reads:

   Dear Prime Minister and Mr Inwood

   As you will be aware from your extensive research dedicated to the biological and social sciences related to whales dating back decades (1941), pilot whales have an almost clockwork tendency to beach themselves on the northernmost coast of our South Island at this time of the year.

   Please forward us as a matter of urgency your data, conclusions and solutions for preventing this happening to these precious creatures again next year.

   Yours faithfully

   Rt Honourable Murray McCully
   • Pete 3.1

     7 January 2014 at 2:33 pm

     He can’t do that. We’ve already argued before the International Court of Justice that there’s no scientific merit in the Japanese whaling programme. Inferring that there is, even if it’s done with leaden sarcasm, would not help our case while we wait for the ruling.
     • Tracey 3.1.1

       7 January 2014 at 2:47 pm

       It wouldnt make a blind bit of difference to the court decision if the Court is in decsion-making mode because no further evidence permitted Pete, ergo us inferring there is a research programme or not is irrelevant.

       It would show some freaking balls which this government has seriously lacked on the international stage. There’s a reason The US like Key so much, he is so damned maleable.
4. Pete 4

   7 January 2014 at 2:28 pm

   There was a really good comment on this over on Reddit:

   Unfortunately, these confrontations on the high seas between whale poachers and protesters continue because the government of Japan has turned whaling into a never-to-be-cancelled spending program for the benefit of fisheries bureaucrats (amakudari) who expect to one day get high paid jobs in the same whaling industry that’s currently propped up by government funding. The whaling is not done for ‘science’ or for ‘tradition’ (as if that were a valid reason) and it’s completely irrelevant to Japan’s food security and economic prosperity.
   …
   Regardless, demand for whale meat in Japan is so pathetically low the government failed to sell 75% of the catch in 2012. Much of the whale meat is fed to children in compulsory school lunches and last year the government stated its intent to serve whale to defense forces too. In a 2012 survey of Japanese citizens, 89% of the respondents stated they had not purchased any whale meat in the last year. So, it seems if the government did not force whale meat on children most of them would never even know the taste of it. So much for ‘tradition’.
   • Tracey 4.1

     7 January 2014 at 2:49 pm

     I don’t know what reddit is, but do you have a link to these statements. Did it come to light during Australia’s court case? We tagged on after our courageous leaders weighed up any fallout for Australia and saw it was safe to make a principled stand on something.

     ” government failed to sell 75% of the catch in 2012. Much of the whale meat is fed to children in compulsory school lunches and last year the government stated its intent to serve whale to defense forces too. In a 2012 survey of Japanese citizens, 89% of the respondents stated they had not purchased any whale meat in the last year.”

     “Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully today announced New Zealand has formally lodged an intervention before the International Court of Justice in the case brought by Australia against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.

     Intervention is a procedure that enables a non-party to the case to put its legal views before the court.

     Australia brought an action before the International Court of Justice in 2010 questioning the validity of Japan’s so called “scientific” whaling programme in the Southern Ocean. In December 2010, the New Zealand Government decided in principle to intervene in the case.

     “The government has now delivered on its stated intention,” Mr McCully says.

     “As a member of the International Whaling Commission, New Zealand has an interest in ensuring that the IWC works effectively and that the Whaling Convention is properly interpreted and applied.

     “This is why the government decided to intervene. I do not intend to comment any further on our intervention at this stage, as the matter is now before the court.”

     Mr McCully says he is disappointed New Zealand had to pursue its interests in the ICJ because diplomatic initiatives failed to bring about a cessation of Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.

     “New Zealand has worked hard with Japan for over three years to try and find a permanent solution to whaling in the Southern Ocean. The government will continue to use all avenues possible to try to bring a halt to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.”” my emphasis which I take to mean do nothing but make a belated speech to the court following Australia doing the right and courageous thing.
     • Pete 4.1.1

       7 January 2014 at 2:55 pm

       Original comment is at http://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1uhz95/sea_shepherd_locates_japanese_whale_poachers/ceifoj5

       http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9330828/Seventy-five-per-cent-of-Japanese-whale-meat-unsold.html

       http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/japanese-appetite-for-whale-meat-wanes/4395142
       • Tracey 4.1.1.1

         8 January 2014 at 8:23 am

         Thanks Pete
5. Will@Welly 5

   7 January 2014 at 3:00 pm

   Come on, get serious. Key and Obama on the golf course, do you think whales even rated a mention. No, trade, spying and what Mr Key could do for America would have been on the agenda.
   With Japan signing up to the TPP, Mr Key will not want to ruffle anyone’s feathers, so don’t expect much action. Expect old snake oil to defend Japanese entitlements to “customary rights”.
6. Ennui 6

   7 January 2014 at 4:08 pm

   I like whales, I don’t like whalers. I also like whales to eat krill and other things that rely upon plankton…..

   NZ as was pointed out on a recent TS post does not adhere or attempt to adhere to climate change mitigation. Just as surely as Japs are killing whales so are you and I, and our country every time we turn the keys to the cars ignition (and in other countless ways). We do so because our reliance on fossil fuels is acidifying the ocean which will kill the food chain at source, and heating the ocean, which will also kill off the flora/fauna.

   We have got a big job to do to save our planet, so rather than getting depressed and saying we are doomed, walk home, ride a bike, turn off a light, dont buy something whatever little thing you can.
   • Tracey 6.1

     8 January 2014 at 8:24 am

     Agreed

     People need to get it into their heads that our world survives as an ecosystem of which we are a part, not apart.
7. fambo 7

   7 January 2014 at 9:33 pm

   World War 3 will be started over whales.
8. Murray Olsen 8

   7 January 2014 at 11:12 pm

   Scientific whaling is in the same tradition of scientific research that saw Unit 731 established in Manchuria. Postwar, the Americans recognised this as genuine research and agreed that none of the records would be used in the prosecution of war crimes. If and when it suits them, the US will recognise the whale slaughter as valid scientific research. Key will not argue. When he says “That’s the opinion of one scientist, I can find someone with the opposite view”, he wasn’t referring to what suits US foreign policy.

   On the other hand, the Chinese, especially those from around Harbin, have not forgotten. Paradoxically, as China becomes stronger, they may be the whales’ best hope.
9. Brian 9

   7 January 2014 at 11:28 pm

   John Key is a useless …

   please fill in the rest…
10. captain hook 10

    8 January 2014 at 1:43 pm

    they dont even need the meat.
    they have warehouses full of whale meat.
    they just doing it to subsidise the equivalent of Japanese baby boomers.
    A pity they dont need some wail oil.
    they could harpoonit and have it for free.
    • fender 10.1

      8 January 2014 at 5:23 pm

      I daresay if we let them harpoon ‘wail oil’ and winch it on deck they’ll be so disgusted with their catch they’ll go home and give up whaling altogether..
11. Matthew 11

    8 January 2014 at 2:01 pm

    Sending a naval presence down there would merely inflame the situation and potentially put the New Zealand government in some very difficult situations. It is the dumbest idea available to deal with the issue.

    All we can do is await the judgement on the NZ/Australia court case and make our next move from there.
    • Tracey 11.1

      8 January 2014 at 2:10 pm

      Stop calling it NZ/Australia, that may be literally true but is disingenuous at best. Can you outline the potential very difficult situations?
    • Colonial Viper 11.2

      8 January 2014 at 3:13 pm

      Hey mate it’s the open seas whats your problem if we just happen to have a naval presence in the area?
    • Murray Olsen 11.3

      8 January 2014 at 10:22 pm

      Thank god Norman Kirk didn’t ask you for advice, Matthew.

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1. Sea Shepherd v the Institute of Cretinous Research - The Standard: posted on 4 February 2014 at 11:55 am

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