Japan Must Halt Whaling Program In Antarctic, Court Says

An international court has ordered Japan to revoke whaling permits in the Antarctic and stop granting new ones.
The country's government had argued that hunting whales was part of a research program, but the International Court of Justice ruled Monday that Japan hasn't generated enough scientific research to justify killing hundreds of whales. Critics said the hunts were instead a way to justify commercial hunting.

The court's ruling stems from a complaint filed by Australia in May 2010, when it accused Japan of being in breach of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling by operating a system that produced whale meat for sale in Japan, rather than creating scientific data.

Japan contested the allegations, saying the meat was sold in order to fund research. International conventions allow whale meat to be sold commercially when it's a by-product of research efforts.

I am glad to read this today and was unaware of this was occurring. Commercial whale slaying under a scientific guise, who would have guessed? I will admit my bias on this subject, because I think whales(mammals) are more sentient than say, tuna(fish), and have been shown to have complex brains and experience suffering similar to humans. They can sense danger in humans as well as benevolence from us. Often they seem to enjoy contact with us.

The court's ruling stems from a complaint filed by Australia in May 2010, when it accused Japan of being in breach of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling by operating a system that produced whale meat for sale in Japan, rather than creating scientific data.

Japan contested the allegations, saying the meat was sold in order to fund research. International conventions allow whale meat to be sold commercially when it's a by-product of research efforts.

If they had stayed in their own waters they may have gotten away with this, but greed probably drove them beyond their limitations.

As Australia's ABC notes, "Japan signed a 1986 moratorium on whaling, but has continued to hunt up to 850 minke whales in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean each year."
The news agency adds, "The ICJ's ruling is final and there will be no appeal."

www.npr.org...
I wonder if these outfits were operating outside of their own policies, unknown to officials back home, or if they all knew and continued to harvest whales?

As the future of whales once more comes under global debate, some scientists say the marine mammals are not only smarter than thought but also share several attributes once claimed as exclusively human.

Self-awareness, suffering and a social culture along with high mental abilities are a hallmark of cetaceans, an order grouping more than 80 whales, dolphins and porpoises, say marine biologists.

If so, the notion that whales are intelligent and sentient beings threatens to demolish the assumption that they are simply an animal commodity to be harvested from the sea.

www.abc.net.au...
The harpooning breaks my heart, and watching the speared mammal drug into a ship with blood gushing from it's head seems surreal. Like I said, I am affected by the awe and wonder of these creatures, so I feel killing them in any degree is savage. A commercial argument may hold up, but the abuse of any privilege should not be allowed.

A nice vid showing some interaction. The footage is beautiful, in general.

Another vid of people saving a whale from fish nets. The whale seems to show gratitude for being free.

Peace,
spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


i am so happy right now
i am smiling as i type this.

i have faith that this is the start of a better world,
we SHARE this planet with sentient beings of imminence beauty,

we are conservators, not owners

dancing with joy

thanks for the best news so far this year!!!

xploder

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Well, if there is something in here for me to complain about, I can't find it.

Mark this one up as a success for the international court.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Whales 1. Mankind, many miles to go...

This is good news. Now, if they only have the enforcement in place to make it happen. As with situations like this. Often the offender will pay a fine when caught, and continue to decimate the creatures they've been told to leave alone.

Des

reply to post by XPLodER

Me too XPLodER!
It is nice to see some good news for a change!

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


...And what happens if Japan goes ahead and continues anyway?

I don't mean to rain on the whale loving parade, but this will only probably mean fines if caught and they will continue unabated. In fact, it may lead to them increasing their whale hunting in order to more easily afford the new fines.

reply to post by Destinyone

Hey Des! I hope the enforcement is carried out as well, and at least there are groups out there that assist in monitoring the action of these commercial outfits, especially when they trek beyond their own boundaries. This verdict should bring more awareness to the issue and hopefully reshape some attitudes about these great mammals. I do feel a lot of people around the globe recognize and honor these creature's magnificence, as should be, and I hope the respect continues to grow.

reply to post by PsychoEmperor

I hope that more watchdog groups as well as other sea persons exercise scrutiny regarding these outfits and where they fish. I can't find any info on fines/repercussions for breaking the law, and you maybe right, that a fine will not deter enough. We shall see. Here is a site with details about the industry and the struggle.
www.animallaw.info...
ETA:

"In the absence of law enforcement in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has been the only organisation upholding the law in defence of the International Whale Sanctuary," he said in a statement.

Greenpeace Oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the ruling confirmed Japan's whaling program was an "illegal and unnecessary hunt of protected species" and it was high time the industry was "consigned to the history books".

"We're calling on the Japanese government to immediately abide by this decision, scrap the Nisshin Maru factory ship, and cease all future attempts to continue commercial whaling."

www.theaustralian.com.au...
Scrapping the ship is a good start and may send a message. Maybe ship confiscation is apart of the deal fro infraction?

Everyone should just stop this, period. What's the matter with national governments if they haven't learned this yet? It's 2013, not 1713.

glad to hear on the decision.

PsychoEmperor
reply to post by speculativeoptimist

 

...And what happens if Japan goes ahead and continues anyway?

I don't mean to rain on the whale loving parade, but this will only probably mean fines if caught and they will continue unabated. In fact, it may lead to them increasing their whale hunting in order to more easily afford the new fines.

edit on 3/31/2014 by PsychoEmperor because: typo

there will be a world wide boycott of ALL Japanese goods,
they will become a MEME for all that is bad in the world,
they will face the judgement of me and my country,
and any other law abiding country in the world.

do you think im joking?
with the law behind us we will have a righteous position from which to launch an internet meme campaign that will use shame and exclusion as a weapon.

mashable.com...


you have not yet seen the TRUE power of the internet levelled peacefully and thoughtfully against an aggressor,
no cyber attacks needed, just scorn and ridicule from ALL four corners of this earth.

so much as one whale....................... and the internet meme machine hits over drive,
do you really want to test the resolve of the best and worst trolls on the net?

xploder

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

I am glad to read this today and was unaware of this was occurring. Commercial whale slaying under a scientific guise, who would have guessed?

Yes, it has been happening for years. Australia started the court case 4 years ago, but Japan has been taking whales non-stop. The international whaling ban barely slowed them down. They claimed that they were taking whales for scientific research, but once they had the 'data' from the carcass they couldn't justify 'just throwing it away' when there was a market for the meat in Japan that could help fund the 'research'. The only actual research ever published was based on 9 animals; they took almost 4000 in that time span.

Sea Shepard has been hounding them forever, putting their boats between the Japanese whaling ships and the whales, trying to contaminate the carcasses with chili and soap, etc, etc. For a couple of years the Australian Navy was sent to monitor the situation because the Japanese Government had armed the whaling ships and the Aussies were worried that their might be a rather nasty 'incident'.

In 2010, one of the Japanese Whaling Fleet rammed and sunk a Sea Shepard boat, the Andy Gil. No one was seriously hurt as the crew was rescued by another Sea Shepard boat. The Andy Gil's captain later boarded the Japanese whaler and tried to arrest the captain, was of course detained by the Japanese, and sent back to Japan for trial as a pirate - I can't find how that turned out, but he has since sued Japan for reparations and tried to get Australia and New Zealand to charge him with attempted murder. The Japanese Whalers still have lawsuits against him in U.S. Courts (I wonder how that is going to work out after this finding).

This is serious stuff folks, and the ICJ's finding is (to borrow a phrase from Joe Biden) a 'BIG F**KING DEAL'.

I wonder if these outfits were operating outside of their own policies, unknown to officials back home, or if they all knew and continued to harvest whales?

If, by 'commercial', you mean 'private corporations' operating independently of and without the knowledge of the Japanese Government, then NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. The entire operation was Government sanctioned, supported, and subsidised. The meat did not cover the cost of the operation, especially after Sea Shepard protests halved their catch and forced them to have barely disguised Japanese Navy ships as armed escorts. The cover story was 'research' don't forget; Government funded 'research'.

Destinyone
reply to post by speculativeoptimist

 

This is good news. Now, if they only have the enforcement in place to make it happen. As with situations like this. Often the offender will pay a fine when caught, and continue to decimate the creatures they've been told to leave alone.

Japan is notorious for not giving a rats patatootie for the fishing rights of the countries it harvests in. It's factory ships routinely go out and take several multiples of their treaty allocated catches. If I remember right (and I might not) a few years ago Australian and Indonesian inspectors visited a fish market in Japan and found half of the worldwide yearly quota of Bluefin Tuna on sale in that one market.

My cynical pessimism forces me to predict that Japan will say all the right things for the next 6 months or so, and then quietly withdraw from the anti-whaling convention and put themselves outside the reach of international law. Then it will get really nasty. The current Australian government will do nothing about it except perhaps to make it easy for the fleet to refuel in Hobart. New Zealand might do something, but they don't have a lot of naval power to project across the Southern Ocean to intercept a Japanese Navy escorted fleet.

reply to post by rnaa

Sounds like a tit for tat game, with the whales being the losers. Perhaps the Sea Shepard group, as well as other groups, should invest in drones. They could monitor a wider area with less cost.

The entire operation was Government sanctioned, supported, and subsidized.

I did not know this but am not surprised. At least then, they will all be held responsible for breaking the laws.

My cynical pessimism forces me to predict that Japan will say all the right things for the next 6 months or so, and then quietly withdraw from the anti-whaling convention and put themselves outside the reach of international law. Then it will get really nasty. The current Australian government will do nothing about it except perhaps to make it easy for the fleet to refuel in Hobart. New Zealand might do something, but they don't have a lot of naval power to project across the Southern Ocean to intercept a Japanese Navy escorted fleet.

Yea I get pessimistic too regarding real change, but perhaps the global community can stay involved online in a watchdog fashion. condemning the illegal whale hunting. Removing an item of cultural taste and perspective regarding the source of that taste may be a challenge, but hopefully some educating and admiration may be stirred.

Thank you for your input

PsychoEmperor
reply to post by speculativeoptimist

 

...And what happens if Japan goes ahead and continues anyway?

I don't mean to rain on the whale loving parade, but this will only probably mean fines if caught and they will continue unabated. In fact, it may lead to them increasing their whale hunting in order to more easily afford the new fines.

edit on 3/31/2014 by PsychoEmperor because: typo

Look up Sea Shepherd.

speculativeoptimist
reply to post by rnaa

 

Sounds like a tit for tat game, with the whales being the losers. Perhaps the Sea Shepard group, as well as other groups, should invest in drones. They could monitor a wider area with less cost.

No, it wasn't about monitoring, it was about stopping. They would pilot their boat in front of the Japanese boats so they could not move, or block access to the "mothership" to prevent the loading of whales.