Commercial whaling: For/Against/Indifferent?

[gyrene81]

I dont see what people's problem is here, these minke arent endangered, they live free in the wild and are killed as humanely as possible. compare that to the average chicken, which spends its entire life in conditions which could reasonably be described as torture. or most farmed animals come to that.

I think the main problem is that people dont know, or want to think about where their steaks and chicken nuggets come from.

 


edit: and since its been recommended by someone who knows about it, I'll be trying whalemeat if I happen across it now

i would agree with you if the lowly minke whale had as big of a population as chickens (for that matter, even the north american white tailed deer) and could reproduce in similar numbers...

[Volron]

I would do it for $20 USD if:

• I was the pitcher and not the catcher
• You paid me, up front
• The camel was wearing lipstick

 

[RTHolmes]

seems a little unrealistic to expect an animal which weighs 5 tonnes to reach the same population numbers as an animal which weighs a coupla pounds and has been intensively farmed for the last few hundred years ...

[gyrene81]

funny thing is Holmes, the population as far back as 1950 was more than twice what it is now...no one knows how many existed before the whaling industry decimated the populations of all whales.

[Fish42]

Karnak, from the enemies of whaling themselves:

"According to the Guardian, of the 1,873 tons of whale meat processed in 2001, 70 tons went unsold."

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/whale-wars/about-whaling/japanese-whalers-japan-whale-meat-popular.htm

That's not a very large percentage of waste.

That's a very old source now GS, here is a much more recent one.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/14/japan-appetite-whale-meat-wanes

Japan's failing appetite for whale meat left three-quarters of meat from whales caught in the north-west Pacific last summer unsold, according to a report.

Junko Sakuma, a freelance journalist, said the body responsible for selling meat from Japan's controversial "scientific" whaling programme had failed to sell 908 tonnes of the 1,211-tonne catch, despite holding 13 public auctions since last October.

But campaigns to revive the tradition of eating whale meat – which was largely confined to a few coastal towns – have failed to capture the public's imagination.

A 2006 survey by the Nippon Research Centre found that 95% of Japanese people never or rarely eat whale meat. Consumption of whale meat rose after the second world war as it provided a much-needed source of protein.

The whaling in Norway I do not know much about, but the Japanese blatant "research" whaling is getting up even my nose. and I am not normally someone who follows causes.

If Norway is handling the stock levels correctly and are not breaking laws to hunt... and are actually eating the damn meat. I am OK with that.

[VonMessa]

i would agree with you if the lowly minke whale had as big of a population as chickens (for that matter, even the north american white tailed deer) and could reproduce in similar numbers...

There are a few, population control hunts in PA that happen every couple of years or so that culls the herds by a few hundred deer and the meat is then donated to local places to help those in need of food such as http://www.philabundance.org/

There is always the inevitable group of animal activists that come to protest these "mindless slaughter of innocent animals"

Meanwhile, in 2011 alone, there were 3,400 reported vehicular accidents that involved hitting a deer (most of which I am sure did not survive), resulting in 9 fatalities...

[zack1234]

Commercial fishing is a strange industry where they contribute absolutely nothing to the product they are taking

At least when they cut down trees they plant new ones.

The Japanese hunting Whales and coming out with complete kak about scientific studying of them is a joke

I don't give a Tinkers cuss about Whales, but the hypocrisy of those people justifying it is nauseating, they kill Whales because its worth a fortune because it is RARE, and the reason they are rare because they have nearly killed them off

I think we should start hunting Unicorns they must be worth some coin and there are still loads of them left

[RTHolmes]

deer are fast becoming a real pest near me, we're going to need culls soon and I guarantee there will be uproar about it

[RTHolmes]

they kill Whales because its worth a fortune because it is RARE

if you mean the Japanese that is not the case - read the reports above. Its a nationalistic thing, a matter of pride.

[VonMessa]

deer are fast becoming a real pest near me, we're going to need culls soon and I guarantee there will be uproar about it

They have the ability do destroy ridiculous amounts of crops when the population is not regulated.

Also, in some places around here such as Valley Forge Park, which also happens to have a heavily traveled state road passing through it, you can't drive faster than 15 MPH at night without taking your life into your hands.  If you look to the left and right of the road at night, there are literally dozens upon dozens of deer, everywhere you look.

[zack1234]

Matter of Pride?

Nationalistic thing?

The less we say about the above in Regards to Japan the better

[VonMessa]

Whale pie?

[whiteman]

If it's legal and it's controlled i don't have a problem.

[GScholz]

They have the ability do destroy ridiculous amounts of crops when the population is not regulated.

Also, in some places around here such as Valley Forge Park, which also happens to have a heavily traveled state road passing through it, you can't drive faster than 15 MPH at night without taking your life into your hands.  If you look to the left and right of the road at night, there are literally dozens upon dozens of deer, everywhere you look.

!!!!    Have gun - Will travel!!!

[GScholz]

So with the exception of Gyrene, which honestly seems a bit extreme, the general consensus is that whaling is fine as long as we eat them and don't kill them off?