Japan admits tsunami disaster funds to be used for whaling

[Colin]

Japan admits disaster funds to be used for whaling | Herald Sun

JAPAN has confirmed it plans to use some of the public funds earmarked for quake and tsunami reconstruction to boost security for its controversial annual whale hunt. Greenpeace alleged that Tokyo was siphoning money from disaster victims by spending an extra 2.28 billion yen ($A29 million) on beefed-up security for its whaling fleet. Environmental groups are expected to renew their battle with the Japanese ships soon.
Japan's whaling fleet left port yesterday for this season's annual hunt in Antarctica. The coastguard said earlier that it would deploy an unspecified number of guards to protect the ships from anti-whaling activists.
Fisheries Agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku said the extra security was designed to ensure safer hunts, and ultimately help coastal towns that are largely rely on whaling as they recover from the March 11 disasters.

"The government will support the reconstruction effort of a whaling town and nearby areas," he told AFP today.

"This program can help it reconstruct food-processing plants there... Many people in the area eat whale meat, too. They are waiting for Japan's commercial whaling to resume."
In February, Japan cut short 2010-2011 hunt by one month after bagging only one-fifth of its planned catch. It blamed interference from the US-based environmental group Sea Shepherd.
Last month, Japan passed a 12.1 trillion-yen extra budget, the third this year, to finance reconstruction and revive an economy that is still reeling from the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
About 498.9 billion yen was earmarked for fisheries-related spending, including 2.28 billion yen for "stabilising whaling research".
"We will bolster measures against acts of sabotage by anti-whaling groups so as to stably carry out the Antarctic whaling research," the fisheries department said after the budget was passed.
Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty but since 1987 Japan has used a loophole to carry out "lethal research" on the creatures in the name of science.
Japan says it is necessary to substantiate its view that there is a robust whale population in the world, but does not hide the fact that whale meat from this research ends up on dinner tables and in restaurants.
Anti-whaling nations and environmentalist groups routinely condemn the activity as a cover for commercial whaling.

 

[abnrmal91]

Come on Colin, your normally quicker then that lol
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/animals-5363/money-well-spent-175634/

Its still an absolute joke, they are idiots.

 

[SYNeR]

Absolutely insane :\

 

[Colin]

Come on Colin, your normally quicker then that lol
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/animals-5363/money-well-spent-175634/

Its still an absolute joke, they are idiots.

Im getting slower each year mate :lol: yeah I only saw this on TV this morning as I dont often watch news.

 

[slide]

Imagine if they actually put that money into sustainable farming of say fish for example

 

[waruikazi]

I posted this up in the other thread too,

There is nothing wrong with sustainable use of anything in the environment.

I haven't researched this but i have a very strong hunch that i am right.

The environmental impacts that whaling (hunting a wild animal in it's natural environment) has on the globe are probably far better for our planet than wild scale farming is.

Let's just think about this for a minute, just green house gases and we'll forget habitat destruction for a while. An adult minke weighs about 15 tonne, a cow weighs maybe 1 if it is a giant. A whale is a carnivore, which means the greenhouse gases it produces are negligeable. But a cow, at a conservative estimate, produces upward of 70 tonnes a year! And that's methane, which is about 70 times stronger in it's influence on climate change than carbon dioxide. That is all before we look at transporting the meat.

If you're a real greeny you should be throwing the whale steaks down!

Save the environment, eat a whale!​

 

[abnrmal91]

Gordo was this what you had in mind.

Probably right Gordo maybe a little offensive. PM me if you want the link of the video.

 

[waruikazi]

Whooooah you should put a language warning on that! Not appropriate for a classroom!

 

[cement]

No Mate.

It's not about sustainable harvest with the Japanese. It also boils down to the fact that whale meat is now toxic and they are feeding it to their school kids in an effort to use all they catch. The majority of the population won't touch it and there are HUGE stockpiles of uneaten whalemeat.
The other aspect is that Sea Shepard are upholding the law. The Japanese are hunting whales in a internationally recognized sanctuary. It is poaching in an Australian National Park.
Enlightened Japanese wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

But I do agree on the cow thing!

 

[waruikazi]

No Mate.

It's not about sustainable harvest with the Japanese. It also boils down to the fact that whale meat is now toxic and they are feeding it to their school kids in an effort to use all they catch. The majority of the population won't touch it and there are HUGE stockpiles of uneaten whalemeat.
The other aspect is that Sea Shepard are upholding the law. The Japanese are hunting whales in a internationally recognized sanctuary. It is poaching in an Australian National Park.
Enlightened Japanese wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

But I do agree on the cow thing!

None of that changes anything i've said.

 

[cement]

Hahaha! Save yourself..... don't eat a whale or a cow!

 

[leamos]

Karmas a b!@#$ japan, on a whale related note, I was watching a doco called the cove, about the dolphin kill that happens every year. Turns out it is sold of as whale, making up around 70% of the 'whale' meat on the market actually dolphin. Test also found the vast majority of this dolphin meat contains something like 600 times the save level of mercury, so they are poisoning their own people. If you ask me they deserve all they get

think the cow comments are stupid, cows aren't an endangered species and doesn't take 20 years to reach sexual maturity

 

[waruikazi]

think the cow comments are stupid, cows aren't an endangered species and doesn't take 20 years to reach sexual maturity

Actually, the cows we see today aren't the same as their wild ancestors. They are extinct.

 

[JasonL]

C'mon, they are doing us a service.... where would we be without "whale wars" to watch on TV.

 

[benjamind2010]

This sort of thing makes me sick. I thought they'd use it to help the downtrodden, those whose lives were destroyed through the massive flooding that occurred right after the tsunami, not to mention radiation sickness. It isn't fair at all.

 

[littlemay]

Sorry what, how is this guy not suspended?

 

[benjamind2010]

Yep, agree with you littlemay, racist attacks are just not acceptable. This guy should receive a stern warning. I have two Japanese friends and racist slurs like this are disgusting. It's fine to be angry with the government for using donated/aggregate funds for whaling hunts, but another thing altogether to make racist attacks.

 

[Fuscus]

A whale is a carnivore, which means the greenhouse gases it produces are negligeable.

Very faulty logic there. While the whale is indeed a carnivore, what the baleen whales feed on is not and would produce around the same amount of methane per kilo as a cow. Mammalian conversion rate is about 10%, ie 10 kilos of the digestible parts become 1 kilo of whale. So a kilo of whale would have a methane cost of 10 times that of a cow.

That is all before we look at transporting the meat.

HUH? WHAT? Previously you asked me if I've been drinking, I think its time to return the favor Is there some magical method of transporting whale meat that doesn't apply to cow? If not, then transport costs would be appropriately the same per kilo per kilometre. And given that Antarctica is generally a lot further than a cow farm...


As for the Japanese behaviour I'm not surprised. As is SOP for nuclear accidents, the impact on the surrounds is greatly downplayed and the information released is minimal though some is tricking out. It appears that ocean contamination is making local Japanese seafood risky so it is only to be expected that they would look further afield and that the whaling industry would see this as a golden opportunity.

 

[Grogshla]

 

[abnrmal91]

A little surprised that post #15 is still there. I thought Racism was against site rules. I also thought that swearing was out. I watched 4 threads get closed yesterday for having swearing in them. I am sure it's been reported more then once.