I didn't know whether to put this in the Australian Politics... International Politics or where so I chose here.
There has been much uproar over Whale hunting in the past few years expecially. Japan hunts and kills whales in our part of the world under the guise of Scientific Study. What they do is unnecessary & barbaric.

Japan's pro-whaling efforts face another setback     
Posted on : Sun, 18 Jun 2006 13:02:00 GMT | Author : Nigel Wright
News Category : Environment           

In yet another blow to Japan's attempts to make commercial whaling legal, a coalition of anti-whaling countries prevented it from getting a crucial third vote and forming a majority at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Saturday.

In addition, the members voted 31-30 against Japan's proposal to allow fisherman in a coastal community of Taiji to hunt minke whales and also shouted down its attempt to reverse a 20-year-old moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan wanted to introduce secret voting but that proposal too came down with a 33-30 vote, even as its attempt to keep dolphin and porpoise hunting off the meeting's agenda failed 32-30.

Even though pro-conservation nations and anti-whaling activists heaved a sigh of relief at Japan's latest defeat, they expressed concerns about the margin between pro and anti votes narrowing. “I think it's game over for this year. But it sends a message to the whole world that if the whole world wants to make sure this moratorium stays in place, they have to make sure that whale conservation is strengthened, not weakened. A lot more people are going to have to take a lot more interest in what happens at this whaling commission,” said Ian Campbell, the environment minister of Australia, which has been one of the most vocal supporters of a ban on whaling.

Strangely, China, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and South Korea, who were expected to support Japan, chose to do otherwise. This irked Japanese lead delegate Joji Morishita, who threatened the four countries with, “We are glad this is not a secret vote. Japan will remember which countries supported this proposal and which countries said no.” So far Japan has respected the anti-whaling moratorium passed in 1986 but it continues to hunt whales on the pretext of 'scientific research'.
According to Dutch whaling commissioner Giuseppe Raaphorst, the divide between the two sides showed that the IWC was weakening. “It's working very badly. It's very bad governance. Normally with governance you take decisions and go forward. We haven't moved forward, we are going backwards. We are going back in time so I think it's a very bad organization. The only thing you can do – get the ministers together to solve it,” he said. But Ben Bradshaw, UK's environment, marine and animal welfare minister, felt it was Japan and other pro-whaling countries that needed to understand how their stance was affecting their reputation in global politics. “I can't understand it. We are a great friend and ally of Japan in almost every other field. And it is completely inexplicable to me that Japan, Norway and Iceland continue to push for a resumption of commercial whaling. That hugely damages their international reputations,” he said.

Agreed New Zealand conservation minister Chris Carter. “The attitude that because our forefathers killed whales we should emulate them must be set aside. We don't live in the past, we live in the present, and we are making decisions that affect our future,” he said.

On their part, anti-whaling activists said the victory was welcome but worrying due to the closeness of the votes. “Japan is now down three votes for three. But the margin was again too close for comfort. Extra countries have turned up since the first day and are voting with Japan,” said John Frizell, a spokesman for Greenpeace International. Added a statement by the organization, “It is now clear that Japan has failed to seize control. However, the conservation countries are clinging on by their finger nails.”

The IWC meeting, being held at St Kitts in the Caribbean, ends Tuesday.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7216.html

Japan's humpback hunt plan a 'disgrace'
Selina Mitchell
June 15, 2006
AUSTRALIA has condemned Japan's efforts to extend its "scientific whaling program" to include endangered humpbacks.

Delegates at an International Whaling Commission meeting in St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean will be told the blood of the humpback will be on their hands if they vote to support Japan's pro-whaling stance.

Environment Minister Ian Campbell said countries that supported Japan would be outed and shamed. He said the public wrongly focused its anger solely on countries that exploited a scientific loophole in the 1986 commercial whaling moratorium. Japan, Norway and Iceland could not kill whales without the support of at least 30 other countries, he said.

"During the next year we have to raise the political stakes for all of those 30 countries and make sure the people in those countries know that their governments are supporting the slaughter of whales," he said.

Senator Campbell has also warned Pacific Island nations their support for whaling could lead to a tourist boycott. He left yesterday for the Caribbean meeting at which the 60-odd member countries of the IWC could effectively unravel 20 years of whale conservation.

Japan's plan to expand its scientific program to include humpbacks was a "disgraceful tactic" that could backfire, Senator Campbell said before he left.

"I think a lot of the countries that do support so-called sustainable whaling in principle will recognise that Japan might be going a bridge too far in relation to taking humpbacks," he said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19476146-2702,00.html

Report reveals whale hunt cruelty
ROBIN PASH
19jun06

AUSTRALIA has revealed the true cruelty of Japan's allegedly scientific whaling program, unveiling a disturbing report on how much the animals suffer as they are harpooned and suffocated.

Environment Minister Ian Campbell said the animal welfare study, based on videos of Japanese hunts, showed the way whales were killed was "inhumane and quite disgusting".

Senator Campbell's comments have ignited a new row with Japan on the sidelines of the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting. The Japanese, stung by the failure of three attempts to have the commission endorse its whaling program, have responded by suggesting kangaroos hunted in Australia also suffer.

Senator Campbell released the report, compiled by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which claimed to show Japan's argument it conducts whale hunts humanely "is absolutely false". "This is how Japan, in the name of science, collects whale meat, takes it back to Japan, sticks it in warehouses, tries to get schoolchildren to eat it, gets old people to eat it now, and we also know from some evidence that they feed it to dogs," he said, although Japan denied these allegations.

"It is a horrendous thing . . . it is absolutely abysmal, it is wrong and it has to stop."

The IFAW report claims that more than 80 per cent of whales were not killed instantly, once harpooned. It says whales are often alive as they are winched aboard whaling ships, with harpoons embedded in their flesh. It also says harpooned whales often suffocate as their blow holes are forced underwater when pulled aboard.

Japanese delegate Joji Morishita said Japan's whale killing was "the most humane way". "I just wonder if the minister knows how long it will take for kangaroos to die in his country?" he said.

Japanese official Akira Nakamae later said Senator Campbell's comments were "ungentlemanly" and were damaging Australia's international reputation.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19513840%255E911,00.html

Humpbacks face a slow death by explosives
Andrew Darby in St Kitts
June 19, 2006

HUMPBACK whales will suffer lingering deaths in Japan's scientific hunt, where they will be harpooned with equipment little different from that used on much smaller minke whales.

Doubts about the humaneness of the humpback hunt emerged when Japan refused to release details of its trial kill of fin whales to the International Whaling Commission meeting in St Kitts in the Caribbean.

Now delegates at the meeting have told the Herald that Japan plans to use the same 75-millimetre cannon used for minkes, albeit with a slightly larger explosive charge, on the much bigger humpbacks.

The little evidence publicly available about Japan's current minke hunt shows that fewer than half the whales die instantly, and some can take more than half an hour.

The larger whales will pose an even greater problem for humane killing.

Japan has added to its scientific whaling quota 10 fin whales, an endangered species. From the summer of 2007-08 it plans to take 50 fins and 50 humpbacks.

Mike Donoghue, of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, said Japan had withheld information on its plans for killing the larger whales, even refusing to say what killing method would be used if the harpoon failed.

"Back in the days of commercial whaling they used a 90-millimetre cannon on the fin whales with a harpoon that was half as heavy again," he said. "All they would tell us is that they will put another 20 grams of Penthrite explosive in the grenade at the head of the smaller harpoon."

Animal welfare advocates said the bigger whales faced a much greater risk of slow and agonising death through the use of such a weapon.

"It's obvious the Japanese are hiding this because their killing methods are appalling," said Mick McIntyre, Australian director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said it was entirely unsurprising that Japan would keep details of its killing methods and results away from the whaling commission, considering it also wanted secret ballots to be used at the organisation.

"If you look at what happens to minke whales, it doesn't take much of a leap of thought to say, well, for a much larger animal the chances of inhumane killing would be much higher," Senator Campbell said.

The minister released a report based on 12 minke whale kills filmed by Greenpeace last summer. Death was potentially instantaneous in only two cases. The rest averaged 10 minutes.

The report showed that Japan's claims of many instantaneous deaths were absolutely false, Senator Campbell said. "I don't think anyone could describe it as anything other than absolutely inhumane."

Japan's delegation leader, Joji Morishita, said his government had refused to release details of the fin whale kill because of unconstructive criticism from inside the whaling commission. It would give some information to another forum, he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/nat.....8/1150569211575.html

This is just my opinion on it all but - It's disgusting!!!

There isn't that many whales out there are there? Personally, I have no clue - but they are beautiful creatures of the sea and seeing them slaughtered and die sometimes sooo slowly just to make whale burgers is feral! They're lying about the whole 'scientific' crap and don't give a damn because they know we wouldn't do a thing to stop them... well Johnny and his main mans wouldn't do a thing. I'm not about to get all - give me a bandanna and peace sign on it but good on those who do!

I still remember when I was about six and overhearing my mum joking to my dad that our silky terrier pups we were sending to some fancy smancy Japanese family would eat them for dinner!!!    

The Japanese should be kind enough to respect our wishes on the issue and bugger off!! Seriously... leave the whales alone. Theres not enough to be making so many mc's whale burger specials and besides theres plenty other fish out there for ya'll - these are just for looking at.. not eating. okay?!

I have read where the Japanese people are no longer happy with whaling either and a lot of them do not eat whale meat. They may be a minority or maybe the younger generations but hopefully withing the next 10 years People power will rule and whale hunting will be very minimal or stopped completely. Someone pointed out to me that the Japanese due to their Scientific research had found a new species of whale in the last few years (and killed it ) So what... leave the whales alone to live in their domain, the Oceans of the world.

Apparently about 70% of Japanese people oppose whaling, and only about 1% eat it once a month or more.

Maybe its all a pride thing. They just don't want to be seen to be being told what to do by other countries.

Surely though they realise that if the animals become extinct, there'll be none left to eat, watch or experiment on.

Better to be cautious and let the population increase more before allowing more hunting.

Quoted from Billy_Anacronysm

Maybe its all a pride thing. They just don't want to be seen to be being told what to do by other countries

that sounds about right ! ...gee's, almost as bad as that corrupt indonesia hole . ( and how much do they suck, full of hypocrocy & simply cant be trusted )

Japan is definetly losing with the voters poll everywhere, even from themselves, and good ! - it's totally 100% wrong with what their doing.

experimentation my arse !!  

if they get caught anywhere in foreign waters illegally doing this now , nothing but the harshest of penalties should apply ..BIG TIME !
no warnings , no second chances - they know exactly what their doing !
and it'll be all pre meditated ... very sly & cunning is all i can say they are.

missiles ARE now an option !  

A bit of a generalisation about Indonesia.
And Indonesia and Japan wouldn't be the only ones. No nation likes being coerced by outside powers. Look at Australia and all the "We will decide who comes" stuff.

I don't think any of the whaling being done is actually illegal. Its within the limits the whaling nations have managed to have set. Still, you wonder why they are so insistant on continuing and increasing whaling when there's not much demand for the meat.

Japanese kill pregnant whales: report
Sunday Jul 30 05:47 AEST

Japanese whalers say a very high rate of pregnancies in the female Antarctic minkes they harpoon is proof the whale can sustain a commercial hunt.
But others have branded it a grisly atrocity, The Sunday Age says.
A report from Tokyo has revealed, on average, 93.8 per cent of the 391 female minke whales harpooned last season were pregnant.
According to the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), Japan's leading whale-hunting body, the Antarctic minke whale "reproduces consistently every year".
The ICR's director-general, Dr Hiroshi Hatanka, said such a high productivity showed the minke population is "certainly well able to sustain a commercial hunt".
But the Humane Society International said it was disgusted with the report, accusing Japan of "killing the future generation" of whales.
The environmental group said the report revealed 853 minke and 10 fin whales were killed last summer.
And of the 391 female minke whales killed, 224 were pregnant with 227 unborn babies.
Australia's Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said minke numbers were declining because of the hunting.
"What this tells you is that ... they're not just killing individual animals, they're often getting two animals with one harpoon - one being the mother, and the one being the calf in the womb," Senator Campbell said.
"And a number of mothers are being killed while they are lactating, in other words, feeding calves that can't survive by themselves. So we're losing a lot of calves because their mothers are being harpooned while they are still feeding."

©AAP 2006

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=68716

I couldn't even look at the picture accompanying this story!

A new genetic study has revealed that the Antarctic minke whale may have been much more abundant before whaling began than previous estimates suggest.

The DNA survey of whale meat purchased in Japanese grocery stores reveals that the species has the most genetically diverse population of any whale, indicating the species historically had a population of between 500,000 and one million individuals.

The finding is significant because Japanese delegates to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) have previously argued that recent surges in minke whale numbers are unprecedented.

Japan claims that the current population of around 761,000 Antarctic minkes (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) is so abnormally abundant that it is hindering the recovery of other large endangered species, such as the blue whale. The data has been used to support calls for the resumption of commercial whaling of Antarctic minkes.

In 2004, Japan asked the IWC to allow it to resume a catch of nearly 3000 Antarctic minke whales annually, six times the amount it currently catches under a scheme for scientific research.


There are valid cases on either side of the coin however, and the case in point has to be made 'scientific research' is a fundemental and valid excercise as can be attest to the medical discoveries found since penicillin was first discovered.

The other side of the coin is just how many whales have to be killed to discover the genetics of the whale in question?

Japan hunt the whales to determine ( and this is there claim) the species age sex mating habits and it molecular structure.

Reality -
There are only two sexes of any species
You cannot detirmine its mating habits if you kill them
How many blood samples do you need to find the molecular structure of a species

Seems to me that we see the whales butchered on the decks of ships but a simple "jab"  to gather blood samples could be done

A reseach vessel could tag and release as many whales at it needs to obtain its habits etc ( much like we do with the black and blue marlins currently) then gather that information from the game fishing industry to log and re tag.

my conclustion is that either Japan is liing about thier " research" or
thier science methods is really flawed and they should stick to what they know best - technology! ( but even thats flawed)

refs:
http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/news/2005-2/022105minke.shtml

refs :
My personal thoughts

Quoted from ALLEYCAT

Japan hunt the whales to determine ( and this is there claim) the species age sex mating habits and it molecular structure.

It begs the question: How do you determine the mating habits when it's on your dinner plate?  

Quoted from vecordious

It begs the question: How do you determine the mating habits when it's on your dinner plate?  

Who said they were studying the whales mating habits??!!. .  

Maybe it is the 'meal of choice' for Japanese business men to impress their mistresses with . .thereby improving their own  chances at 'mating habits'.    

Save humpback whales, urges Australia
Andrew Darby in Anchorage
May 29, 2007 - 9:50AM

Australia and New Zealand have made emotional, but so far fruitless, pleas to Japan to spare humpback whales from its kill at the International Whaling Commission.

The two governments joined in appeals to spare the iconic animals from the harpoon as a gesture of goodwill, warning that the plan would seriously harm Japan's image.

"The impact on Japan of public opinion in Australia would be very severe if this were to occur," the Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, told representatives of more than 70 nations.

"Nothing Japan could do today would earn it more goodwill with the people of Australia than to abandon the humpback kill in Antarctica this year," Mr Turnbull said.

The New Zealand Conservation Minister, Chris Carter, said his country had acted as a good friend of Japan last summer.

It aided the whaling fleet when it ran into trouble with the anti-whaling activists of Sea Shepherd,  gave medical help to a whaling ship crewman, and stood by when the factory ship Nisshin Maru caught fire.

"New Zealand has acted as a good friend of Japan's," Mr Carter said. "I am asking that in turn, Japan respects the powerful feelings Pacific peoples have about humpbacks."

The Japanese alternate commissioner at the IWC, Joji Morishita, said his government was attempting to make decisions based on science.

"At the same time, I do understand the need for some nations on particular species," Mr Morishita said.

Japan plans to kill 50 humpbacks in Antarctica next summer from stocks that migrate along the Australian coasts in winter.

Some of these whales also migrate along the New Zealand coasts into the tropical Pacific.

Under IWC rules, Japan is allowed to grant itself a permit to kill whales for scientific research.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/wha.....9/1180205199202.html

Stop slaying humpbacks: NSW trio
By Andrew Darby in Anchorage
May 29, 2007 - 5:56AM

A trio of Australian girls who travelled to Alaska to try to head off Japanese humpback whale hunting took their passionate fight to the 77 nation International Whaling Commission in Anchorage today.

The girls from Port Stephens, New South Wales, handed a 40,000 signature petition against scientific whaling to IWC chairman, William Hogarth, in what they saw as a coup for their campaign.

"We were told by lots of people that this wouldn't happen, that he wouldn't see us," said Skye Bortoli, 14. "But he did."

Ms Bortoli, her sister Caitlyn Frerk, aged eight, and Ayesha Future, 17, formed the group Teens Against Whaling.

They raised funds to spend two weeks in the sub-Arctic capital with their parents, trying to draw attention to Japanese scientific whaling, and particularly the planned humpback kill next summer.

In the hunt, Japan plans to take 50 humpbacks in Antarctica from stocks that migrate along the east and west coasts of Australia in winter.

"These are our humpback whales," said Ms Bortoli. "The first thing they see when they come from their mother's womb is the Australian coastline.  So if anyone should determine what happens to them, it is us."

Ms Future said the girls were also telling IWC delegates that the whaling was very cruel. "The tourism industry is the only real commercial use for whales."

The girls joined anti-whaling protests, including a parade through Anchorage which culminated with the protesters lying on the ground in the shape of a humpback.

They plan to attend sessions of the IWC this week where the humpback hunt is emerging as a possible bargaining chip.

The Japanese delegation leader, Joji Morishita, confirmed that Japan was prepared for detailed negotiations in which its plan for a small commercial hunt of minke whales in its own waters could be part of a trade for the humpbacks

http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/stop-slaying-humpbacks-nsw-trio/2007/05/29/1180205189285.html

what we have to do to stop whaling...
http://blogs.smh.com.au/newsblog/archives/your_say/013540.html

the whales would b extint already if it wasnt for the bans in place so far. imagine the rate at which they could catch them now, with their massive fast ships and tracking systems. they would be extinct in a few months if the bans where lifted i beleive.

Im sorry but I just can't see why the Japanese need to eat these animals, I know that we humans do eat all sorts of creatures but, we have moved out of the cave man image to be able to farm most of what we eat, can we just live and let live, we dont need to kill everything we see.

Whale now a staple at mega-restaurant chain
Tuesday May 29 14:00 AEST
By Shaun Davies
ninemsn

One of Japan's largest restaurant chains is now offering raw whale meat on its set menu year round, as "scientifically" harvested whales flood the country's food market.

Tsubohachi, an 'izakaya'-style restaurant chain with 460 stores around Japan, serves whale sashimi for 650 yen (around $7) a plate.

Izakaya restaurants serve inexpensive food and alcohol, and are a mainstay of the after-work drinking culture in urban Japan.

The restaurant chain had previously sold whale meat, but only on a seasonal basis, a report in Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun said.

The whale-meat sashimi plate is clearly displayed on the Tsubohachi's website menu.

Last year around 5500 tonnes of whale meat were brought in to Japan from the country's "scientific" whaling operations.

According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan had 4590 tonnes of whale meat in cold storage at the end of March this year.

One year earlier it had a stockpile of 3610 tonnes and in March 1999 it had 648 tonnes.

Whale meat has long been an accepted part of the Japanese dinner menu, but its consumption had declined as lack of supply pushed up the price.

A briefing note from Joji Morishita, a senior member of Japan's delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which is meeting in Alaska, said the supply of whale meat to Japan had declined since the 1960s.

"We didn't make whale meat an expensive luxury by our own decision. The restrictions, which include abundant species, transformed the inexpensive and nutritional daily food into a luxury," Mr Morishita said.

But the increase in supply appears to have created a glut in the marketplace, and there have been several controversies in recent years over Japan's increasing consumption of whale meat.

Revelations that a small restaurant chain in Japan's north was serving whale hamburgers provoked international outrage. The use of whale meat in school lunches caused a similar reaction.

Japan and other pro-whaling nations have been trying to break a 20-year moratorium on commercial whaling at the IWC meeting in the Alaskan capital of Anchorage.

The Japanese delegations has outlined a controversial plan to take 50 humpback whales each year, in addition to its current "scientific research" catch of about 1000 whales.

Japan had offered to compromise on this plan if its request for whale hunting in four coastal Japanese communities was allowed.

But countries hostile to whaling, including Australia and New Zealand, immediately dismissed the compromise plan.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=269890

Japan to push ahead with humpback whale hunt
May 30, 2007 - 4:44PM

Japan says it is 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, yesterday. 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.

Japan's top official at the commission, Joji Morishita, echoed Carter's remarks. The Japanese delegation had said before the meeting they had "very low expectations" of breaking the deadlock.

Japan wants to kill 50 humpbacks this northern summer, from stocks that migrate along the coasts of Australia and New Zealand into the tropical Pacific, under its whale scientific research program.

The plan has drawn fire from the two countries as well as environmental groups concerned over the mammals' fate.

Humpback whales are renowned for their acrobatic displays, drawing millions of whale watchers annually, and generating more than $US1 billion ($1.22 billion) in income for coastal communities around the world, said Patrick Ramage from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

For more....
http://www.smh.com.au/news/wha.....ullpage#contentSwap1