Mikey wrote:Misinformation? Bad PR? You make an excellent point that the Japanese are singled out while there are other offenders, but that's a long leap of faith away from "anti-whaling = sinophobe."
Like I said. Offer me an explanation that explains it beside that. I honestly think that the environmental groups target Japanese whaling simple because they think they can get away with it.
One does not exclude the other. It's just atypical to see someone arguing one side of an issue while providing evidence for the other side.
You're gonna have to explain that one for me. I've provided information in regards to the nature of the moratorium, the IWC, whale populations, harvesting rates, the impact on whale meat on Japan and their economy, the economic viability of whaling, and I've made comment on much of it. However I don't recall offering information for the opposite side of any of my arguements.
I was referring more to the likelihood of Japanese whalers taking examples of endangered species, rather than to a misrepresentation of the number of allowed types.
Show me some evidence. I've heard this thrown out but I've yet to see anyone offer any evidence of it at all.
sunnyside wrote:#1 They are also hunting endagered species of whales. Norway just hunts Minke
The minke is rated by the ICUN as least concern. Not completely unendangered but Norway isn't off the hook. Japan and Norway both hunt minke almost entirely. 91.6% of Japan's harvest whales have been minkes. Another 3.5% have been Byrde's which are not threatened at all. The only two endangered species Japan has hunted are the Fin whale of which they've harvested 13 in 20 years and the sei whale of which they've harvested 496 in 20 years. They've also harvested 45 sperm whales but they are not considered endangered but vulnerable. All these whales were taken under permit from the IWC.
For a bit of perspective there are currently estimated at approximately 1,950,000 sperm whales currently. Japan has harvested 0.0023% of the population in total over 20 years. Fin whales are listed at a population of approximately 120,000 whales. Japan has harvested about 0.011% of the population over 20 years. The sei has an estimated population of 54,000 for a harvested percentage of 0.9% of the population over the course of 20 years. I'm not going to claim that Japan has helped these whales by any stretch of the imagination but lets put it in perspective, 0.0023%, 0.011%, and 0.9% of the total population over 20 years is statistically insignificant. In fact, the Japanese harvest of sei whales in two decades is proportionally equal to what the Norwegians take of minkes in a single year.
#2 It is taking place in what is designated as a whale sanctuary.
Sanctuaries that are designated by the IWC, which also happens to be the people who authorize Japan to whale in those areas.
At the time not much was known about populations,
Actually the population figures I'm getting, from several sources (one of them the IWC itself) have confidence intervals of 90 to 95%. In other words the scientific community is pretty confident in their estimations.
Granted in the intervening time it looks like Minke could be hunted there safely enough in some respectable amount. But lay off the Fin whales and the other big boys for goodness sakes.
Hmm... interesting given that of the three endangered or vulnerable species, the sperm and fin have been harvested in far smaller percentages over two decades combined than the minkes have in a single year.
As a side note, in digging around about the endangered status of the various whales, it looks like they aren't meeting their assigned quotas because of interference from groups like this. So, if they would acheive quota as they did when not bothered, these groups actually make a significant dent.
Given that the Japanese harvest, even if they actually filled their quota, is statistically insignificant in the populations ummm.... go Shepherds?
