Hickman,+M



Hey, Matt...looks like you have plenty of gruesome pictures...how about some text? Remember, you need enough information to fill a two-page paper next week. Don't forget to include URLs of the websites that you find good info from. You'll need that for your works cited page. Get busy!! Mrs. McKee











[] At the turn of the 20th century, Japanese coastal whaling received a boost with the introduction of steam ships and grenade-tipped harpoon guns. However, it wasn't until 1934 that Japan expanded its whaling to Antarctica. Whales helped keep Japanese citizens fed both during and after World War 2. In 1947 whale meat made up almost half of all animal protein consumed by the country. Nearly 20 years later, whales continued to make up nearly one-quarter of the Japanese diet. [] The next phase of Japan’s annual whale hunting begins soon, angering activists who say the country’s whale research shouldn’t be lethal.

[|Activists Call for Research Without Killing]
A Japanese fleet is preparing to launch another [|whale hunt] this week, this time in its own waters, Agence France-Presse reported. This time the goal is 60 minke whales. The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, though some countries, such as Iceland and Norway, have recently resumed it. Japan says the whales are captured and killed for research, though critics point out that the meat is packaged and sold. "The purpose of the research is to collect basic data for resuming sustainable commercial whaling in the future," said Hiroko Furukawa of the Fisheries Agency, in an interview with AFP. Activist groups such as Greenpeace International condemn the research. []

2007/11/20
The European Commission is deeply concerned by Japan's plans to kill up to 1000 minke, fin and humpback whales in a South Pacific whale hunt that will run until mid-April 2008. The Commission emphasises that there is no need to use lethal means to obtain scientific information about whales, and that adequate data for management purposes can be obtained using non-lethal techniques. Japan's decision is all the more alarming as fin and humpback whales are classified as "endangered" and "vulnerable" species on the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). There is therefore a serious risk that the Japanese programme will undermine the long-term viability of these species in the Southern Ocean.

[|http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7551] [|21 June 2005The International Whaling Commission has rejected Japan's call to][|resume][| regulated commercial whaling and end the 19-year moratorium on whale hunts.] [|The IWC has been working for years to develop a system to manage whaling. Japan has argued that some populations, such as the minke whale, have recovered sufficiently since the 1986 moratorium for a return to sustainable harvests.] [| Japan proposed to double in their annual quota of minke allowed under the scientific research programme from 400 to 800. The country currently kills a total of about 650 whales of all types each year. Japan's proposal included measures for on-site monitors and testing of captured whales.]

[] 15 April 2005 will see new "scientific" quotas with a minke whale take of 880 in the Antarctic in addition to a catch of some 10 humpback and fin whales. Let's just remember here that populations of whales in the Antarctic are at only 10 percent of what they were before industrial whaling - it seems ludicrous to kill them to count them, or find out what they eat. Then again, it's not so ludicrous if you're going to make millions from the meat. In 2003, the Fisheries' Agency's "research" whalers reported revenues of over US$50 million from a catch of 700 whales. Their catch this year is expected to be 1,300.

[] [] The Mainichi Daily News Does insist that Japan has the Right to hunt Whales and that this has been part of Japans inherent culture. Japan does hunt Whales annually for research and redistributes the meat after this "research" is concluded; at least this is the official version here in Japan and internationally. Among the Whales hunted, it does focus mainly on minke whales that are not endangered and fin whales that are endangered. Some Japanese do adamantly defend this right as part of their culture. These are however the early and late Baby boomer generations holding on to a practice that is long over due and for wish there is no real need any longer either. Yet, Whaling is sponsored and maintained by the Government with Taxpayers money, or it could not even survive any longer as an industry. The Younger generation does not eat Whale meat nor does it visit the few restaurants that still serve it or that are specialized in this type of food. However, the older generation does eat Whale meat, even if only seldom nowadays, they do defend their right to consume it. Ironically if one goes back in History a little, It was Japan that was strongly opposed to Modern Whaling practices that the Norwegian introduced in the in the Meiji era, Wish they regarded as cruel and indiscriminate killing of Whales, Those Whales back then where still regarded as deities of the sea and which helped the corral fish. However, things start changing following the devastation of World War II, as food was scares and famines a constant threat to the Country. Whales being a cheep source of protein became the larger part of the post-war diet. Why the people defending this practice today do so in part because of a deep trauma lying in the past of their Youth or Infancy, called Hunger. Now, why is it still going on even though it is not even self-sustainable any longer? The reasons are actually simple and more of sociological and demographical nature then a logical one. Japan is an aging Society just as most Industrial Societies are nowadays; the older part of the population outnumbers the Younger part by an increasing factor annually. This rift is in part due to a falling birth rates, a lack or no net immigration as well as being blessed with the highest life expectancies in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006 and a high population density. Making Japan the world's tenth most populated country in the World today. This has an immense impact on Politics and Policies alike, since the Baby boomers outnumber the youth, the Youth does not even bother to vote any longer since their voice will just be berried by the Baby Boomers hold on Society. Why Whaling may still be practiced for some time, since it has little to do with common sense any longer and more with demographics.