Why we should allow whaling

[freediver]

http://www.ozpolitic.com/sustainability ... aling.html

We have no mandate to impose recently acquired cultural taboos on the Japanese people. Since when is it OK to tell other countries what they can and cannot eat?

The continued effort to prevent commercial whaling is a strategic blunder for the environmental movement. It represents a victory of emotional response over practical considerations and of 'cute and cuddly' over sustainability.

One of my first forays into Australian politics was the promotion of marine parks as fisheries management tools. This is something that I am still heavily involved with. One of the common criticisms I heard was that marine parks were a 'foot in the door' for the 'greenies.' This even came from people who claimed to be 'the real environmentalists.' It came across as a rather absurd argument. Sure there are some animal liberationists who want to ban recreational fishing, but to assume they could have any political power over fishermen is just ridiculous. Furthermore to base your political strategy around fear of such an unlikely outcome is more likely to make it come true. If you refuse to self regulate then someone else will take the opportunity to do it for you next time there is a crisis.

Well, that's what the commercial whaling industry did. They formed the IWC to manage commercial whaling in a sustainable manner and it was promptly taken over by people who have no interest at all in sustainable harvests. All they will be satisfied with is a complete ban on commercial whaling. Occasionally you will hear lip service given to sustainability, but usually with the insistence that any whaling is inherently unsustainable. Such assertions are never backed up with evidence.

Whales are not the only example of emotional appeal winning over common sense. For a long time it was nearly impossible to purchase kangaroo meat in the supermarket. This came about through protests a number of years ago when it first hit the shelves. This may not seem as bad as using the law to impose your will, but the outcome was far worse for our environment. Destroying the kangaroo meat industry reinforces the beef industry in Australia, which does enormous ecological damage. Cattle just aren't suited to our fragile soils. Their hard hooves turn it to dust and they rip grass out by the roots. They destroy fragile riparian ecosystems. They emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Fortunately, kangaroo meat is making it's way back onto the shelves, but it is still illegal to import it into California. Apparently several decades ago a senator's wife heard from a friend that kangaroos are endangered, and insisted that her husband pass a law banning the importation of kangaroo meat. Of course, she had the support of local environmentalists. Note that the arguments used against the whale harvest are identical to those used against the kangaroo harvest and have lead many Australians to support California's kangaroo ban.

If you think that Australia is now more sensible in it's handling of native animals, think again. It is still illegal to kill brushtail possums. Brushtail possums are four times as dense in the urban environment as they are in the wild. They are basically native rats, except that people tolerate and even encourage them through feeding. They carry several nasty diseases. For example they are the principle carriers of Ross River Fever, with something like 70% of them testing positive. They damage ceilings. They are carnivorous and eat small animals and bird eggs. Combine this with the introduction of cats and aggressive bird species from overseas (helped along by the urban environment) and it is no wonder that avian biodiversity is so low in the suburbs. Every opportunity to sustainably harvest a wild source of food that we pass up reinforces the role of commercial agriculture (chemicals, hormones, transport, fossil fuels) in our lives.

Anyway, back to the whales. While environmentalists continue to show, through successful political campaigns, that they will not stop at sustainability and that environmentalism is on a continuum with animal rights, the movement will continue to instill fear in average Australians. Even to the extent that everyday Australians will oppose any environmental agenda on principle regardless of whether it harms themselves. I've seen this with my own eyes. It is irrational and frustrating, just like a complete ban on commercial whaling.

[boxy]

Indeed. Anti whaling protesters are the worst type of "environmentalists".

Save the whale because it's special, doesn't cut it.

Save those whales that are endangered, sure, I'm with you.

Save every bloody whale, no matter their numbers, and you've lost me, especially when you praise dangerous, self-righteous idiots like those Sea Shepard dickheads.

Nuke the whales!

[JW Frogen]

Any people who eat whales or dogs, or rye bread, (rye should be used for whiskey, not bread),are barbarians, barbarians I tells ya!

Still, ever since I watched 'Finding Nemo' I have had an affinity with the clown fish.

Which is eaten by no one. Not even the Chinese.

Maybe we should promote clown fish consumption to the Japanese?

This, in the end, might save the whale.

Or at least give those big, fat, bastards time to find a new home in outer space. (Whales, not Japanese sumo loving killers.)

Evolve quickly my whale freinds, evolve!

Because the Japanese won't.

[pakistani_dalek]

Any people who eat whales or dogs, or rye bread, (rye should be used for whiskey, not bread),are barbarians, barbarians I tells ya!

Still, ever since I watched 'Finding Nemo' I have had an affinity with the clown fish.

Which is eaten by no one. Not even the Chinese.

Maybe we should promote clown fish consumption to the Japanese?

This, in the end, might save the whale.

Or at least give those big, fat, bastards time to find a new home in outer space. (Whales, not Japanese sumo loving killers.)

Evolve quickly my whale freinds, evolve!

Because the Japanese won't.

Got that right frogen..

If drugs are bad, so is whaling.

[JW Frogen]

Got that right frogen..

If drugs are bad, so is whaling.

I am not so sure.

Think how hard it would be to harpoon those big, fat whale bastards if one is drunk or doing other sorts of mental funk?

I think either we give the Japanese whale killers so much sake they can no longer harpoon their blubber Nagasaki target, or we give the whales so much Jack Daniel's the whales attack the Japanese with all the force of Little Boy and Fat Man;, lock those Japanese blubber scrubbers up in Davey Jones’ locker.

[pakistani_dalek]

Got that right frogen..

If drugs are bad, so is whaling.

I am not so sure.

Think how hard it would be to harpoon those big, fat whale bastards if one is drunk or doing other sorts of mental funk?

I think either we give the Japanese whale killers so much sake they can no longer harpoon their blubber Nagasaki target, or we give the whales so much Jack Daniel's the whales attack the Japanese with all the force of Little Boy and Fat Man;, lock those Japanese blubber scrubbers up in Davey Jones’ locker.

mmmm
One problem tho'..how does one get a whale drunk?

I'd love to see those Japs smashed to smithereens.

[JW Frogen]

I have been in the Navy and drank with seals, whales, killer whales and other Cetacean life.

I simply refuse to drink with US Marines.

[JW Frogen]

There was a beached baby whale in Freemantle last week.

They pushed it back into the water but think it died, that it was a pre-mature birth.

Or, perhaps whales are pro-choice?

It was beached at 'Bathers Beach'.

Well, they claim they pushed it back into the water, but there is a Maccas right on that beach and I find it strange the next day that Maccas came out with the new McMoby burger.

For a limited time only.

[Balls]

I have been in the Navy ..............................................

[JW Frogen]

I have been in the Navy ..............................................

Oscar Wilde wept.