What’s Bubbling
The Japanese government stops pretending it is conducting science and admits it is now allowing a fleet to hunt whales for profit
The Japanese government has pulled out of decades-old international agreements, parting ways with the International Whaling Commission, and is now openly hunting whales for commercial purposes for the first time in 30 years. How has it come to this?
The head of Japan’s fisheries ministry, Shigeto Hase, said: “The resumption of commercial whaling has been an ardent wish for whalers across the country.” The statements were made during a ceremony in Kushiro for the departing fleet. He said the resumption of whaling would ensure that “the culture and way of life will be passed on to the next generation.” The statements appear out of step with reality, however, as the fleet is clearly a commercial whaling operation of the modern era.
In the indigenous communities of Lamalera, Indonesia, for example, restrictions on modern technology are enforced by the locals themselves.
Whale meat is not sold in supermarkets but is instead shared following traditional requirements. In Japan, the whaling fleet returned with their harpoons covered. But we haven’t forgotten recent videos showing explosive-tipped harpoons that hardly invoke the warm and virtuous “cultural” argument the ministry representatives are touting. Grandpa isn’t taking junior out in a rowboat to tell him tales of the old country, only to bring back enough catch for their dinner plates. And since when is navigating via GPS “cultural”?
Nevertheless, the agency has stated that whale hunting will take place only in Japanese waters, which leaves no legal recourse.
“The real beast here is not the whales, but the market and its relatively infinite consumption. Why poke the beast by reopening
the market and telling people it’s okay to eat these
amazing animals?”
As history has taught us, however, just because something is legal, it does not make it right. We are talking about rare animals the size of numerous elephants, known to be both easy to kill and slow to reproduce. It is a miracle we still have so many whale species alive today.
Humans have hunted whales for millennia, but only since the Industrial Age have we been able to kill these enormous animals with such veracity that we very nearly eliminated them. Despite decades of protection, not all whale populations have recovered. In fact, many are still struggling, having to now cope with threats as pervasive as the accumulation of toxic chemicals in their flesh, plastic pollution in their stomachs, noise pollution throughout their habitat, discarded fishing gear, and horrific fatal collisions with ships.
There are so many good arguments against reopening whale hunting anywhere that it hurts the head to think about it, but perhaps my biggest concern is this: In the 40s and 50s whales were the biggest source of meat in all of Japan. Since then their economy, as well as tastes, have changed, but palates are finicky things, and can always change back. The real beast here is not the whales, but the market and its relatively infinite consumption. Why poke the beast by reopening the market and telling people it’s okay to eat these amazing animals? This is the true crime, if not against the law, certainly against Nature.