Updates in the World of Whaling

The whaling issue is creeping back into the news more often again and this article is no exception.

Japan has announced another horrific whale hunt with a quota of 260 (endangered) whales.

In recent news, Australia announced plans to take legal action against Japanese whaling, which includes the involvement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It has been known for a long time that Australia has an issue with Japan’s whaling, especially in the Southern Ocean and their decision comes after a series of rather critical events, including the Sea Shepherd incident, a 6-week scientific research study and countless failed negotiations through the IWC. http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/05/29/australian-government-plans-to-take-legal-a...

The IWC 'Morocco' meeting is expected to happen this month. The main focus of this meeting is to agree on the terms that will delegate whaling in the future and hopefully settle a long-term dispute between pro-whaling and anti-whaling nations.

As for Sea Shepherd, Captain Peter Bethune is currently in trial in Japan for his actions during the last Southern Ocean campaign. While he has the support of Sea Shepherd during his legal battle, they have revoked formal association with him otherwise. This includes removing him from the crew and disallowing him on further campaign adventures. A Sea Shepherd spokesperson claims it is because Bethune brought a bow and arrows aboard the Ady Gil at the beginning of the campaign, but other crew members said it was no secret and the equipment was not intended for human harm, which makes one wonder why they would make an issue of it now.

Japan is setting out for another whale hunt, but this time it’s in the Pacific Ocean. Their targets include: 100 Minke Whales, 100 Sei Whales, 50 Bryde’s Whales and 10 Sperm Whales. It should be noted that Sei Whales are an endangered species and it was meat from that very whale that resulted in the closing of a particular sushi restaurant in California (The Hump). Further studies of that meat linked its origins to Japan—and while they don’t hide the fact that a lot of the whale meat goes to restaurants and the like, there is something to be said about the distributing of meat or product from an endangered species. http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/04/14/new-study-links-endangered-whale-meat-with-...

This brings us to the final update, which is in regards to the awesome Tokyo Two. In 2008, this pair of Greenpeace-Japan activists stole a box of whale meat from a delivery service depot in Japan. The plan was to use the box (about 50 pounds!) as evidence that whale meat from state-funded hunts was being embezzled. Well, right now prosecutors are demanding these 2 should spend at least 18 months in jail for their theft and trespassing actions. However, Greenpeace responded by saying the demand was “severely disproportionate” and they also held a protest against the prosecution in Montreal. The protestors gathered signatures and are planning to send them to the Japanese government. Other similar protests can also be expected to happen in China, Germany, India, New Zealand, and the US.



http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/06/11/many-updates-in-the-world-of-whaling/?utm_s...