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Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

bbc.com

41–50 of 111 posts

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#42
post #10

Faroe Islands and Norway catch more whales than Japan [1] but for some reason don't receive nearly the same level of outrage. [1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whales_Nordic.png

The outrage is that they're whaling in a conservation area in the Southern Ocean. The other reason is other countries have determined their "scientific" whaling has no actual scientific basis: Japan is not the only nation to hunt whales. Norway has a commercial operation in its own waters, for example. But what infuriates conservationists is that Japan is hunting and killing whales in a conservation zone, the Souther…

The news is that now they will do commercial whaling in Japan rather than “scientific” whaling in Antartica.

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#44
post #32
post #11

I see nothing wrong with sustainably farming whales like any other animal. Certain species have been endangered and those should be protected, but responsible consumption of traditional foods is an important way to preserve culture.

This. The moratorium was supposed to be about not allowing the species to be driven to extinction. If that's not a risk anymore, exactly what is the problem? Did these conservationists lie when they told us that this was all about protecting the existence of the species? It sure seems like it's really about eradicating a culture. We all know how well that has gone in the past. Maybe we should interpret future stateme…

i think you mean murder not culture.

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#45

"A stove boat or a dead whale." ― Herman Melville This should be the bargain. If you are going to hunt whales, the whales should have a chance to hunt you back. Require the use of oar powered wooden whaleboats, hand thrown harpoons, manila ropes. There is no sportsmanship in the way the japanese do it now.

Exactly! Not just wooden boats -- cedar boats.

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We used to burn people for witchcraft and did so for a long time. Maybe it's just time that we resume that practice.

Don't get the downvote. I thought this was midly funny.

Non-substantive comments are frowned upon. So's commentary on voting, for that matter.

Cf https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#47

"My heart is overflowing with happiness, and I'm deeply moved," said Yoshifumi Kai, head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association. "People have hunted whales for more than 400 years in my hometown."- Just because something has long-standing traditions, doesn't mean that should be continued. We used to burn people for witchcraft and did so for a long time.

What if we allow people to hunt whales, but they have to do it using 17th century technology, so that it’s not easy to overhunt?

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#48

"A stove boat or a dead whale." ― Herman Melville This should be the bargain. If you are going to hunt whales, the whales should have a chance to hunt you back. Require the use of oar powered wooden whaleboats, hand thrown harpoons, manila ropes. There is no sportsmanship in the way the japanese do it now.

Exactly! Not just wooden boats -- cedar boats.

boats? shouldn't the whalers swim?

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#49
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

I would love to explain to you how you're wrong but I can already see where this is headed and I already got rate-limited last night from a stupid discussion. For the record though I am not in agreement with mass surveillance.

Re: Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years

#50
While we are at it, let’s pay some attention to the overfishing of other species: for example, the cod fishery in northwest Atlantic collapsed in the last century, and stock of bluefin tuna has fallen by over 70%, according to Wikipedia.

I am not suggesting that whaling is not harmful to the environment. But for me overfishing of tuna etc is much more dangerous because of its scale and economic impact. We need to find a way to fish sustainably, before the ocean ecosystem is damaged beyond repair and we lost our fisheries forever.

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