At last, some good news re: commercial whaling

[Phil]

It is good to hear that Japan's proposal to hunt minke whales commercially has been rejected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Apparantly Japan, Norway and Iceland argued that growing whale numbers threatened declining fish stocks. I ask you...... :x

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3736042.stm

 

[cthulhu77]

"back door whaling"???? %$^&$^%#%*^*^ :x

 

[TPOTH]

Re: At last, some good news re: commercial whaling

Apparantly Japan, Norway and Iceland argued that growing whale numbers threatened declining fish stocks. I ask you...... :x

Awww COME ON!!!! + :x
Geeez... what next?!

TPOTH

 

[Steve O'Shea]

The vote, considering the number of abstentions, is perilously close! This isn't something that is going to go away.

 

[Cephkid]

didn't whales just get out of the threatened/endangered list?

BAD WHALERS!!! :x :x

 

[Scouse]

Big applause from me, blood boilin stuff that.


For very pint of guinness i drink this weekend im goin to donate a big applause to those that eventually took the humungous step (cough) of banning this.

 

[cthulhu77]

Saw this on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/10/26/right.whales.ap/index.html

 

[main_board]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051108/ap_on_re_as/japan_whaling

Wasn't sure whether or not our friendly Yahoo! news thingy was working so I posted this here (I cannot post in the news forum). As Steve said earlier in this thread, its not over yet. I just can't believe that some people can still think like this. Maybe Greenpeace could arm the whales with laser beams attached to their heads. I'm sure its possible, I mean the US government has apparently trained killer dolphins!

Cheers!

 

[Jean]

Heard on the radio news they were planning to take Humpbacks too



j

 

[main_board]

Yeah, I heard that somewhere too (though apparently not in that article). I just can't believe that they're still allowed do this. On the surface it doesn't seem like they're killing a lot (just number wise) compared to other hunted species, but then you remember that these are WHALES and that absolutely everyone is precious and special and cannot be lost. Again, I just can't understand how organizations let whaling happen. Is there nothing more than can be done about this? I mean, they aren't just going to stop themselves, they're not even slowing down!!! There just has to be something more that can be done.

 

[Jean]

and whales have SUCH a slow reproductive rate........mind you I get just as irritated and when I hear of large shark captures..for the same reasons!

J

 

[Feelers]

I dont mind if they kill whales, (I personally love them), but if they are were a sustainable resource it would be fine with me. However its obviously not very sustainable, and they just pretend that it is.
A humpback whale is worth about $3 million dollars, so its a pretty lucrative business and you can see why Japan yeilds a lot of power over the system.
The next whale conference isnt going to be as happy as the outcome of this one. Japan keeps persuading new countries to join, by bribing them, changing the vote count.
Why would landlocked Mongolia be interested in whaling? With the stupid current system they now have as poweful a vote as any other country.

Im sure the enormous mongolian fishing industry is angry All none of them.

 

[TPOTH]

Why would landlocked Mongolia be interested in whaling? With the stupid current system they now have as poweful a vote as any other country.

Fair enough but the flip side is then "who should be allowed to vote on those issues?". Only countries with access to the sea? Only countries with access to oceans with whales in it (e.g. not the Mediterranean countries)? Only the countries with the required technical might (removing poorer countries from the talks)? Only the countries with an interest (past or present) in whaling?
Easy to see that as we consider a smaller group of countries, the relative weight of the pro-whaling increases and they wouldn't have to spread themselves thin lobbying so many countries.

But yeah, i get (and agree with) your point in that whaling countries are generally rich and well able to buy other countries' votes with trade promises (or threats for that matter).

Solution? beats me.... A environmental dictatorship that would enforce the ban on whaling with submarines allowed to sink whalers on sight? Where do I sign for that?

Im sure the enormous mongolian fishing industry is angry All none of them.

I would move house if I were you. Just in case....

TPOTH

 

[bigGdelta]

I find myself in a quandry. While I abhor whaling (one of the best moments of my life was swiming with a pod of dolphin out in the gulf stream), I also remember growing up poor in the mississippi delta and making extra money trapping beaver, raccoons, mink and nutria. Japan and Norway obviously don't need the money, while some of the Inuit people do. maybe we could put a moritorium on whaling techniques using anything besides canoes and hand harpoons. If the whalers have a little danger maybe there won't be so many. let's give the whales a chance to take out a few whalers.

 

[Infusoria]

Well, soon it's just going to be us and jellyfish... The fishing industry is starting to piss me off. No, wait, we can eat jellyfish. Well, us and plankton.