Free Willy!! Hands off our Whales, Japan.
A few votes from man tomorrow = Giant repercussions for whales
An important vote in the Caribbean tomorrow, at the gathering of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will decide the fate of the great mammals of the oceans - the whales. Tomorrow's vote is a power struggle between pro-whaling nations and the countries that condemn the practice. Leading the fight against whaling, are nations like New Zealand and Australia. Where as Japan, Norway, Iceland and other smaller island nations are hoping to gain a majority and thereby continue with their archaic and inhospitable killing of whales.
Over the past 20 years Japan , Norway and Iceland have all still been hunting the great whales in defiance of the roughly 20 year international moratorium on their killing. They are also on a course to gain control of more than 50 per cent of the votes at the gathering tomorrow. The anti-whaling nations used to hold a controlling majority of the IWC votes, but Japan has craftily mustered support from smaller poor island nations, encouraging them to vote in favour of whaling and offering them substantial developmental aid. It is estimated that Japan has spent almost $200 million in its efforts to buy votes. A win for them will lend credence to practices that will threaten the very existence of these wonderful mammals. Whalers will kill approximately 2,000 whales this year.
A victory for Japan tomorrow poses another serious threat. Japan together with its allies, will be in position to wield considerable power over the running of the IWC, in a manner that best suits their selfish needs. They could, for instance exclude from their meetings groups like environmental campaigners, the media and even anti-whaling nations, by mere casts of majority votes. They could easily pass pro-whaling motions and annul anti-whaling ones. In short they could reduce the IWC to an institution that favours whaling as opposed to the role that it is meant to have as a regulator. Pro-whaling nations need a majority of 75% votes to abolish the current moratorium on whaling. But seeing as how Japan is relentlessly recruiting new member nations through monetary favours in support of its cause, it won't be too long before this majority is reached. And once the door on accountability is shut, things will simply spiral out of control.
Since the 1986 ban, Japan has consistently engaged in what it refers to as "scientific whaling" which is supposedly designed to "monitor fish stocks and migration patterns". Norway has continued to hunt commercially by simply entering an objection to the moratorium. And as for Iceland, its done a mixture of both. All three of these nations together have killed almost 25,000 whales since 1986 with Japan accounting for the killing of more than 5000 mink whales, which is just one in a variety of the species. Many of these mink whales have ended up on up-market Japanese restaurant menus. So I'm left asking the question "How can dead whales account for the scientific monitoring of fish stocks and migration patterns?" Japan has yet to share the results of its scientific monitoring with the rest of the world.
One of the public faces of Japan's pro-whaling lobby Mr. Masayauki Komatasu, is supposed to have claimed that the whale numbers have increased to the point where they can safely be hunted again and if not controlled they will eat other fish because they are "cockroaches of the sea". Cockroaches of the sea! Isn't that title a bit far-fetched and unwarranted? I mean, what is Kamatasu expecting the whales to eat if not fish? Surely he can't be thinking they'd survive on Miso soup or vegetarian sushi?
What really annoys me, is the constant criticism levied against New Zealand and anti-whaling nations for not understanding the Japanese way of life and for trying to impose what the Japanese Ministers call a brand of “cultural imperialism”. Japan claims that whaling is part of their long standing cultural tradition and must be respected. Well, I don’t buy that argument. Just because something has been in existence and practice for centuries does not make it right. If old and outdated ideas were commonplace, then we would still be labouring under the notion that the earth is flat.
As someone who permanently resides in New Zealand, I can tell you that we take our environment very seriously. To be berated as people who don’t understand and are insensitive to the Japanese cultural ethos is really, a criticism that bears no merit. If anything, New Zealanders are incredibly culturally sensitive people. Whales are precious to us. They form an important symbol of New Zealand’s cultural history and tradition. According to Maori legend, Paikea the ancestor of the Ngati Porou tribe came from Hawaiki to Whangara, north of Gisborne, riding on the back of a whale called Tahora. The legend of Paikea has inspired Witi Ihimeara’s 1987 novel Whale Rider and the subsequent 2003 film. Whales are an important cultural symbol -acknowledged and celebrated through our songs, our art and craft, our cultural stories and our lives in general. And perhaps that’s why, the thought of them being harpooned and killed is so unpalatable. So I ask, what then, is the Japanese response to the New Zealand cultural ethos? Is whale hunting their brand of “cultural imperialism”?
I’ll admit that New Zealand profits from eco-tourism and from whale watching. But we promote this, not to satisfy a rumbling in our bellies. We do it to educate and inform the world, of just how wonderful these mammals really are and why it’s vital to keep them alive. Whales are not just big predatory creatures of the ocean. They have the largest brains on our planet, as complex as human beings. They are said to be capable of highly complex thinking. Yet thanks to centuries of whale hunting by humans, they are more fragile and vulnerable now than ever before.
Someone’s got to take a stand and put a end to whale hunting. And I applaud the anti-whaling countries for doing this. I am not a member of any green organisation or environmental group. But I think its really imporant for me to take a stand. This is a sensless slaughter. Nations like Japan, Iceland and Norway could reap more rewards from keeping the whales alive than from slaughering them. Eco tourism would boost their economies and would reduce their argument about killing whales to sustain their economic needs. Anti whaling Governments should start boycotting Japanese goods because that will definate give them a strong message and prompt them to stop this silly slaughter. I just hope and pray that the votes go the whales' way tomorrow. If not, then the future of the giants of the ocean will forever be bleak.
Some sites below:
www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/save-our-seas-2/save-the-whales
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/antiwhalepetition
www.stopwhaling.org
An important vote in the Caribbean tomorrow, at the gathering of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will decide the fate of the great mammals of the oceans - the whales. Tomorrow's vote is a power struggle between pro-whaling nations and the countries that condemn the practice. Leading the fight against whaling, are nations like New Zealand and Australia. Where as Japan, Norway, Iceland and other smaller island nations are hoping to gain a majority and thereby continue with their archaic and inhospitable killing of whales.
Over the past 20 years Japan , Norway and Iceland have all still been hunting the great whales in defiance of the roughly 20 year international moratorium on their killing. They are also on a course to gain control of more than 50 per cent of the votes at the gathering tomorrow. The anti-whaling nations used to hold a controlling majority of the IWC votes, but Japan has craftily mustered support from smaller poor island nations, encouraging them to vote in favour of whaling and offering them substantial developmental aid. It is estimated that Japan has spent almost $200 million in its efforts to buy votes. A win for them will lend credence to practices that will threaten the very existence of these wonderful mammals. Whalers will kill approximately 2,000 whales this year.
A victory for Japan tomorrow poses another serious threat. Japan together with its allies, will be in position to wield considerable power over the running of the IWC, in a manner that best suits their selfish needs. They could, for instance exclude from their meetings groups like environmental campaigners, the media and even anti-whaling nations, by mere casts of majority votes. They could easily pass pro-whaling motions and annul anti-whaling ones. In short they could reduce the IWC to an institution that favours whaling as opposed to the role that it is meant to have as a regulator. Pro-whaling nations need a majority of 75% votes to abolish the current moratorium on whaling. But seeing as how Japan is relentlessly recruiting new member nations through monetary favours in support of its cause, it won't be too long before this majority is reached. And once the door on accountability is shut, things will simply spiral out of control.
Since the 1986 ban, Japan has consistently engaged in what it refers to as "scientific whaling" which is supposedly designed to "monitor fish stocks and migration patterns". Norway has continued to hunt commercially by simply entering an objection to the moratorium. And as for Iceland, its done a mixture of both. All three of these nations together have killed almost 25,000 whales since 1986 with Japan accounting for the killing of more than 5000 mink whales, which is just one in a variety of the species. Many of these mink whales have ended up on up-market Japanese restaurant menus. So I'm left asking the question "How can dead whales account for the scientific monitoring of fish stocks and migration patterns?" Japan has yet to share the results of its scientific monitoring with the rest of the world.
One of the public faces of Japan's pro-whaling lobby Mr. Masayauki Komatasu, is supposed to have claimed that the whale numbers have increased to the point where they can safely be hunted again and if not controlled they will eat other fish because they are "cockroaches of the sea". Cockroaches of the sea! Isn't that title a bit far-fetched and unwarranted? I mean, what is Kamatasu expecting the whales to eat if not fish? Surely he can't be thinking they'd survive on Miso soup or vegetarian sushi?
What really annoys me, is the constant criticism levied against New Zealand and anti-whaling nations for not understanding the Japanese way of life and for trying to impose what the Japanese Ministers call a brand of “cultural imperialism”. Japan claims that whaling is part of their long standing cultural tradition and must be respected. Well, I don’t buy that argument. Just because something has been in existence and practice for centuries does not make it right. If old and outdated ideas were commonplace, then we would still be labouring under the notion that the earth is flat.
As someone who permanently resides in New Zealand, I can tell you that we take our environment very seriously. To be berated as people who don’t understand and are insensitive to the Japanese cultural ethos is really, a criticism that bears no merit. If anything, New Zealanders are incredibly culturally sensitive people. Whales are precious to us. They form an important symbol of New Zealand’s cultural history and tradition. According to Maori legend, Paikea the ancestor of the Ngati Porou tribe came from Hawaiki to Whangara, north of Gisborne, riding on the back of a whale called Tahora. The legend of Paikea has inspired Witi Ihimeara’s 1987 novel Whale Rider and the subsequent 2003 film. Whales are an important cultural symbol -acknowledged and celebrated through our songs, our art and craft, our cultural stories and our lives in general. And perhaps that’s why, the thought of them being harpooned and killed is so unpalatable. So I ask, what then, is the Japanese response to the New Zealand cultural ethos? Is whale hunting their brand of “cultural imperialism”?
I’ll admit that New Zealand profits from eco-tourism and from whale watching. But we promote this, not to satisfy a rumbling in our bellies. We do it to educate and inform the world, of just how wonderful these mammals really are and why it’s vital to keep them alive. Whales are not just big predatory creatures of the ocean. They have the largest brains on our planet, as complex as human beings. They are said to be capable of highly complex thinking. Yet thanks to centuries of whale hunting by humans, they are more fragile and vulnerable now than ever before.
Someone’s got to take a stand and put a end to whale hunting. And I applaud the anti-whaling countries for doing this. I am not a member of any green organisation or environmental group. But I think its really imporant for me to take a stand. This is a sensless slaughter. Nations like Japan, Iceland and Norway could reap more rewards from keeping the whales alive than from slaughering them. Eco tourism would boost their economies and would reduce their argument about killing whales to sustain their economic needs. Anti whaling Governments should start boycotting Japanese goods because that will definate give them a strong message and prompt them to stop this silly slaughter. I just hope and pray that the votes go the whales' way tomorrow. If not, then the future of the giants of the ocean will forever be bleak.
Some sites below:
www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/save-our-seas-2/save-the-whales
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/antiwhalepetition
www.stopwhaling.org
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