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Australia begins whaling legal action

If you're talking morally, that's fine, but how is it really different from the way in which every country on the planet engages in international relations? I can't remember the last time that a country didn't label its economic desires as "cultural heritage" or "interest in peace and democracy."

I agree with you about international relations. It's often not very cut and dry. But if basically every country is against whaling except for Japan and there has been bountiful evidence put forward on extinction projections, then I don't see why Japan should get to make that decision.

I believe whales are a species worth saving. They are sentient in the kingdom of mammals and there is a lot about them we still don't know. One country should not get to decide the fate of a species just because they want to make money. Meanwhile the rest of us get to watch several key species go instinct within a single lifetime.
 
I agree with you about international relations. It's often not very cut and dry. But if basically every country is against whaling except for Japan and there has been bountiful evidence put forward on extinction projections, then I don't see why Japan should get to make that decision.

I believe whales are a species worth saving. They are sentient in the kingdom of mammals and there is a lot about them we still don't know. One country should not get to decide the fate of a species just because they want to make money. Meanwhile the rest of us get to watch several key species go instinct within a single lifetime.

I agree with you in theory, but that's why international law is garbage. Unless the people/countries opposed to whaling want to go after Japan using other diplomatic methods, there's not really much they can do.

FWIW, (and I'm in no way an expert on this), I very much doubt that Japan would let them go extinct. Someone above here noted that the whales they hunt have come off of the endangered species list, and I doubt they'd be eager to put them back on it.
 
I agree with you in theory, but that's why international law is garbage. Unless the people/countries opposed to whaling want to go after Japan using other diplomatic methods, there's not really much they can do.

FWIW, (and I'm in no way an expert on this), I very much doubt that Japan would let them go extinct. Someone above here noted that the whales they hunt have come off of the endangered species list, and I doubt they'd be eager to put them back on it.

I was with you until the bolded part. I am much more skeptical. Seems that whenever there is money to be made, conservation takes a back seat, even though the species is their livelihood. Fact is, something HAD to be done before the near extinction of most whales, and it wasn't the fisherman who spurred the ban on.
 
The simple reason they won't fish them to extinction is because it is in their best interest.

We don't hunt whales for their oil any longer... they're not endangered, so have at it I say.

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The simple reason they won't fish them to extinction is because it is in their best interest.

We don't hunt whales for their oil any longer... they're not endangered, so have at it I say.

.

Zimmer... the ocean waters near Japan are practically depleted as they are now forced to import 40% of their seafood. Blue Fin tuna is well on it's way to saying buh-bye to this world. Yet they are still fished. Like I said, wherever there is money to be made, with little to no regulation, many will take advantage. Capitalism is great in many ways, but it has one major flaw. It cannot control greed.


In Tokyo's Tsukiji market - the world's largest - they trade more than 400 different types of seafood, from wriggling eels to 300kg tuna.
Before World War II, the vast majority of Japan's fish came from local waters. But now, because of depleted stocks, 40% of this fish is actually imported.

BBC News - Can eco-friendly fish be big in Japan?
 
A huge number of people in India don't abstain from eating beef.

So?

Orion said:
Cows are not endangered.

Neither are the whales that the Japanese hunt.

Orion said:
There is no practical reason to hunt whales in the numbers Japan is showing because there are plenty of other viable sea foods to choose from. It's industry that wants profits which is fueling the craze. Whale meat is considered low grade in Japan, but the seafood market has been infected with lies. Products that are sold as other kinds of fish actually contain whale; and as was already said, the government is trying to put whale meat into all primary school lunch programs, programs which are mandatory for all those in attendance.

There is clearly an industry bias at work. It has nothing to do with cultural heritage.

Be that as it may, is it really the international community's place to question what a sovereign nation puts into its school lunches? :confused:
 

Is there an argument here, or...?

Neither are the whales that the Japanese hunt.

Not true, in addition to the fact that the world's fish stocks are on the rapid decline because of their country.

Be that as it may, is it really the international community's place to question what a sovereign nation puts into its school lunches? :confused:

If we hope to see whales alive in the future, yeah.

As for what they put in the lunches, it is completely relevant to the political questions. If Japan doesn't care and will just do what it wants, then it should just say so to the international community. All of the excuse making and the lies are just annoying.

Billions of people living on coastal areas around the world rely on fish for primary survival, and one country is draining the seas at an exponentially higher rate than all the others. When fish stocks collapse in less than 40 years a lot of people will be left starving. Japan's industry should not take precedence over the rest of the world.
 
I'm not addressing your arguments re: the true reasons behind their desire to whale, but what I'm having a hard time understanding is how you're moving from "they're not being forthright about the historical reasons why they want to whale" to "that means that it's illegal for them to whale."

They signed the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling: International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The purpose:
The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is an international environmental agreement signed in 1946 in order to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry".[1]

Since they signed, they agreed to abide by the terms of the agreement. There is the legality. Under the guise of the "research" loophole, they are whaling.

Again, look at their justification, heritage. Heritage/culture has nothing to do with killing whales for research. Either they are legitimately engaged in research or they are killing for the sake of putting whale meat on the table. I have also explained there are bureaucrats interested in protecting their pensions.

Their whole position is bogus.

The simple reason they won't fish them to extinction is because it is in their best interest.

We don't hunt whales for their oil any longer... they're not endangered, so have at it I say.

.

With all due respect, what animal on the brink of extinction ever recovered, or even stabilized, without protection?

Humans are greedy where a buck is concerned. If unrestricted whaling is again permitted, it won't take much time for whales to end up back in trouble.
 
Be that as it may, is it really the international community's place to question what a sovereign nation puts into its school lunches? :confused:

it's not, if the sovereign nation was getting the school lunches from it's own sovereign territory, but Japan goes whaling in and around Australian waters, both off the mainland and our territory in Antarctica, and thats where their whaling, bad as it is in the first place, crosses the line.
 
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