Anti-whaling lobby rebuffs Japan (Japan holding humpbacks hostage)

[Barrett808]

Source: BBC

Anti-whaling lobby rebuffs Japan
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Anchorage, Alaska

Anti-whaling countries have rejected an offer which could have seen Japan scale back its Antarctic hunting programme.

Japan had said it would consider scrapping plans to include humpback whales in the catch.

In return it sought approval of its request for limited commercial hunting by four coastal communities.

But anti-whaling countries at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission rejected the move as a "needless act of provocation".

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6699201.stm

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What distinguishes Japan from the Mai Mai militia, which is holding gorillas hostage in Congo?

[WhiteTara]

1. Japan to push ahead with humpback whale hunt

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070530/pl_afp/environmentwhalingiwc_070530045258;_ylt=ApMT.95EQaeaSC3H0dgUGP1H2ocA
ANCHORAGE, United States (AFP) - Japan said Tuesday it was pushing ahead with its controversial plan to hunt humpback whales after key powers refused a compromise offer and despite warnings by Australia and New Zealand it would be a "provocative act."

"Japan is proceeding with its full research program as planned at this stage and this includes the humpbacks," Glenn Inwood, the spokesman for the Japanese delegation at the annual talks of the
International Whaling Commission (IWC), told AFP.

His remarks came as Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States held talks on the issue with Japan on the sidelines of the four-day meeting which began in Anchorage, Alaska on Monday. Officials said there was no breakthrough.

"We have agreed to continue talking but as yet we have reached no common position," New Zealand's Conservation Minister Chris Carter told reporters.
snip
Ignoring a global outcry, Japan together with Iceland and Norway continues to push for the lifting of the 20-year moratorium on commercial whale hunting.

aren't humans grand

[maddezmom]

2. U.S. aboriginal whaling quotas renewed at IWC

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 29 (Reuters) - The International Whaling Commission renewed a five-year whaling quota for indigenous people in the United States and Russia on Tuesday, allowing Alaska Natives to continue hunting bowhead whales for subsistence purposes.

By a consensus vote, Alaska Natives and the indigenous people of Chukotka, Russia, were allocated a shared catch limit of 280 bowhead whales over a period ending in 2012. The proposal maintained previous catch limits.

The whaling commission is holding its annual meeting near the icy coasts where Alaska Natives use whale meat as a staple in their diet and for cultural practices. The commission's U.S. delegation said its top priority was to obtain a renewal of their quota.

Japan supported the renewal of aboriginal whaling quotas, but Joji Morishita, Japan's deputy whaling commissioner, asked for "consistency" from the organization when it raises a proposal to allow hunting of minke whales by four of its small coastal communities.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29355755.htm

[Nihil]

3. Apparently it isn't blackmail when a government does it.

> What distinguishes Japan from the Mai Mai militia, which is holding
> gorillas hostage in Congo?

As long as you mean "Japanese whale killing supporters" by "Japan"
in your question then the answer is "Nothing". Both parties are scum.
Unfortunately, one party is recognised as a national government whilst
the other are recognised as armed thugs.

It's the same hypocrisy as seen when an independent group of people
try to force a foreign government to a particular policy then they are
labelled "pirates" but if the Japanese government does the same thing
using economic blackmail, it is "diplomacy".

:mad:

[Barrett808]

5. Couldn't the word "eco-terrorism" be adapted to describe these situations?

"Do as we say, or these endangered animals die."

[Tyler Durden]

4. Buy a Toyota...Kill a whale.

It all comes out of the same pocket in the end, kiddies.

[Nihil]

6. That's as rational as "Buy a Ford ... Kill an Iraqi" (n/t)

:eyes:

[Tyler Durden]

7. Actually....

That's a reach but not too far of one.

Japan supports its industry, so a certain degree of interconnection financially is present.

But Hey, whatever floats your boat. I personally feel a little responsible for the war with every nickel in taxes that I pay.

[Nihil]

8. Fair enough.

> Japan supports its industry, so a certain degree of interconnection financially
> is present.

That's true. I simply didn't think it was a close enough link to warrant the comment
any more than I would seriously support the Ford analogy.

It just seems that as there is so little support for whaling even inside Japan, there
is nothing that we can boycott that would affect the whalers without using such a large
brush that it would affect innocent Japanese people (who might themselves be fighting
the barbaric practice that taints their nation's reputation).

Picking on Toyota rather than Sony, Sanyo, Hitachi, Fuji, Mitsubishi, et al just reminded
me more of a certain "GM/Ford uber alles" poster ... sorry about that.