Why we should allow whaling

http://www.ozpolitic.com/sustainability-party/why-allow-whaling.html

We have no mandate to impose recently acquired cultural taboos on the Japanese people. Since when is it OK to tell other countries what they can and cannot eat?

Below is a list of the ‘hollow’ arguments that have been presented on our forum for why we should ban the harvest of Minke whales and why we should be confident the argument won’t be extended to lots of other animals. Most of them are red herrings (ie irrelevant points). Some additional fallacies are listed afterwards. Most of the arguments centre around cruelty and animal intelligence.

1) whaling is not central to Japanese culture.
2) the Japanese would not starve if they stopped whaling.
3) whaling is a smaller industry than beef, pigs, fishing etc.
4) you can’t group whaling together with other harvests to form a really big group (eg fishing) that sounds too difficult to get rid of.
5) the whaling industry is smaller than it used to be.
6) the whaling industry is (or was) bigger than it was prior to WWII.
7) whaling is done for different reasons than it was historically (oil).
8) whales were not bred for harvest.
9) whales were overharvested in the past (ie ‘they’ can’t be trusted).
10) killer whales appear to be smarter than pigs.
11) we can’t be certain that Minke whales are not smarter than pigs.
12) killing a whale is no different to killing a human.
13) killing a whale takes a while.
14) lots of people think whaling is wrong.
15) the IWC has banned whaling.
16) whaling is conducted via a loophole in the IWC laws.
17) the Japanese subsidise whaling
18) whale watching is valuable
19) the Japanese are putting diplomatic pressure on small nations to lift the ban.
20) the Japanese are being recalcitrant in not bowing to international pressure.
21) politeness in the face atrocity is a form of complicity.

Part of it for me is that 'the Japanese' are totally full of s#*t when it comes stating their intentions. "Research", my a@$. If we let them have it their way there would be no whales left and the way they "catch" them is RIDICULOUSLY inhumane.

I notice you don't make a point yourself, other than saying "here's a list of fallicies".

"Since when is it OK to tell other countries what they can and cannot eat?"

Lets eat the panda, the white tiger, the albatross, the indian and african elephant.....screw it, let makes ivory legal....and elephant feet, gorilla paws...how about we harvest the barrier reef?. Who's to tell us we can't?

So whaling sustainable or not? Are the Japanese BS about that one too?

Cant we breed whales as like other animals?

StG, in every example you gave except for the GBR (which we do harvest), the bans in place can be justified from a sustainability perspective. The whaling ban was originally based on sustainability. It was to ensure that future generations could harvest whales. We are the ones that mislead the Japanese about our intentions. Or at least, we changed our mind after the fact. The IWC has converted from sustainability to animal welfare and tree hugging hippy carp. In doing so, it lost it's mandate. Japan will either hunt whales via the scientific loophole or reject the IWC completely and hunt whales outside of it's legal structure. You can't blame them for playing the same game we do. We as a nation are by far the biggest hypocrits in all of this. I'm sure if you actually spoke to the Japanese whalers about it the wouldn't tell you they are doing research, they would tell you to get f'ed.

Saviour, you can't generalise like that. Whether it is sustainabile depends on how well it is managed. In the future, it will come down to whether the IWC comes to it's senses and manages whaling, or cuts it's own balls off by pandering to the hippies. If the IWC goes with the hippes, whalers will never again join forces to manage whaling effort. Tuna fishermen will also avoid that dangerous course of action.

Currently, about 2500 whales are caught each year, and the number is on the rise. In all liklihood that amount is sustainable, but we can't afford to lose the IWC.

They are eating them! And you know it! Its all bull- s--t, and you all know it! Do you think everyone has their heads, stuck up their rectum! The world, still thinks, it has the right to do with what ever they like. NO,NO,NO,! My main message is! WAKE UP!
REM, the band, it has said it all! Its the end of the world as we know it. And I wonder why. What are you looking for? Is it a leader? Not even me has that quality. But someone has it!, and lets face it! Know one wants the job! We are all going to think together or we are going to die together.

Its always been your choice!

"They are eating them!

Of course. It would be wrong to kill them if they were just wasting them.

"The world, still thinks, it has the right to do with what ever they like. NO,NO,NO,! My main message is! WAKE UP!

When it comes to what we eat, we do have that right. You are deluded if you think you can take that right away. The Japanese will not roll over to our cultural imperialism. They have the moral high ground, not us. We just can't see it yet. We're too busy torturing pigs to put this issue into perspective.