Recently Whaling in
Japan has gotten drastically out of hand. Due to Japan’s killing of hundreds of
whales during its annual hunting season, Australia took Japan to the International
Court of Justice in The Hague, charging Japan with unlawful practices and using
research as a facade for commercial whaling. The situation is so serious that
the conservation group based in the United States sent out ships to pursue and
block Japan’s whaling fleet. Australia thinks that Japan’s so called “research
quota” catch of up to 1,000 whales per year is violating a 1946 international convention
regulating whaling in addition to a freeze on commercial whaling set by the
International Whaling Commission in 1986 due to a sharp decline in the number
of whales. Solutions to Japan’s overzealous whaling include enforcing rulings
of the 1946 international convention as well as using statistics of Japan’s
stockpiles of frozen whale meat and the declining whale population against them.
Another possible solution includes compromise; Japan could cease to kill whales
in the Southern Ocean, which Australia has declared a “whale sanctuary.” A successful
trial against Japan should force them to decrease the amount of whales killed
for their so called “scientific research,” but due to Japan’s blatant rejection
of the whale ban, as they have killed 10,000 whales since it went into effect, it
is apparent that many barriers will be present. Japan’s lawyers are likely to
claim that the hunting of minke and some fin whales off the coast of Antarctica
in the Southern Ocean is acceptable because the 1946 convention and the
International Whaling Commission allow the killing of whales for scientific
research. This repudiates Australia’s accusation that Japan’s whaling is
actually for commercial purposes. Japanese newspapers have also reported that Japan
will insist on continuing to hunt, eat, and research whales because the
government does not want to be seen giving in to Australia or “terrorist
actions by foreign environmentalists, another barrier to justice for the
whales. Personally, I think that Japan should cut back on the amount of whales
they kill for “research.” It seems unnecessary to take the lives of hundreds of
whales per year strictly for scientific research, they should own up to the fact
that they are whaling to make a profit and selling whale meat, considered a delicacy in their culture, for consumers. Japanese assertions that they are whaling
to monitor the impact of whales on the fishing industry and observe the whale population’s
recovery from over-fishing also seem suspicious, as this could be done while the
whales are still alive. Hopefully Australia will be able to prove that Japan's whaling practices are unjust and a solution will be found to this preventable and
wary issue.
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ReplyDeleteI have to say that, just like you Emily, I think that it is suspicious that Japan needs thousands of whales each year for “scientific and researching purposes”. To know that whale byproducts are a major money-maker in Japan, with demand for their blubber and meat in high demand, seems like the driving force behind these mass killing rather than a purely scientific or cultural action. When you mention Japan calling anti-whaling escapades “terrorist actions by foreign environmentalists” I felt like that could connect in many people’s minds to the television show Sea Shepherds, a non-profit, marine conservation organization based on persevering and protecting marine life (http://www.seashepherd.org/). I think that overall this conflict between the Japanese whaling industry and various conservation groups like the Sea Shepherds will continue unless whaling regulations are put in place and both sides can come to some sort of compromise(such as Japan being more open about its whaling activities or conservation groups understanding just what happens to the whales).
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