The Family (Or most of them)

The Family (Or most of them)
The Family

June 16, 2006

A WHALE OF A STORY


Now HERE'S a great idea.

Earth's largest animals are barely holding their own now in the planet's warming oceans, still subject to illegal hunting (primarily by Japan) and the hapless, helpless victims of other environmental issues.

But have a read of this gem:

For National Geographic News
June 16, 2006
Pro-whaling nations may take control of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) this weekend for the first time since commercial whale hunting was banned 20 years ago.

Delegates from the 70-nation commission are gathering on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts for the IWC's annual meeting, which runs today through June 20.

Ever since the commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, Japan has worked tirelessly to restore the whale hunt. The Japanese government argues that whaling is central to Japanese culture.

This year antiwhaling activists fear Japan may finally get its way. The island nation, many believe, has recruited enough countries into the pro-whaling camp to begin chipping away at whale protections.

This morning, however, Japan lost a vote on a proposal to remove from the meeting agenda discussion of small whales, dolphins, and porpoises—which conservationists consider some of the most endangered species in the whale family.

But Japan may well have its majority before the meeting is out.

"The first vote was in keeping with the status quo," said Susan Lieberman, director of the Global Species Program for the conservation organization WWF, speaking from the St. Kitts meeting.

While the first vote is encouraging for the antiwhaling community, Lieberman says, several nations had yet to arrive at the meeting or pay their dues. At least two of those nations, she adds, are pro-whaling.

A majority of pro-whaling votes on the whaling commission will not overturn the ban. That requires a 75 percent majority. But the anti-whaling community fears a shifting tide.



So you've got the whaling weenies apparently gaining more power and I'm sure that can't be good news for Canada's beautiful Belugas or any other species. And God love Newfies, but our Canucklehead government continues to permit the annual clubbing of baby seals off the Newfoundland coast despite the international protests.



You would have thought they might have learned something about the death of the cod fishery off Newfoundland's Grand Banks, but apparently not.

Timberwolves, grizzly bears, African and Indian elephants...you name it, it's vanishing or becoming more threatened every day. And don't even get me STARTED on our treatment of domesticated animals.

Just another rant from just another voice in the wilderness...

2 comments:

  1. Wow Natureboy what's all this then?
    Here in Canaladida our gov't allows the Inuit to harvest whales and Eastcoasters to harvest seal pups.
    As an omnivore I cannot really condemn harvesting animals for food but when it is for a ceremony or slippers I want to excuse myself and say WHAT THE HELL!
    For gawdsake nobody on the planet can stomach the pitiful site of hapless squealing pups with those HUGE eyes being whacked over the f*ckin head by a man with a big club! No PR firm in the world can ever fix that image, ever, GIVE IT UP.

    The fact that there are plenty of seals or the propaganda about their negative effect on fish populations...HELLO..I think that we proved that humans are incapable of being responsible with fish stocks and that's why the grand banks have been depleted of the Cod stocks that 400 years ago slowed ships down to a halt!!

    I agree that we have to find the most humane methods available, factory farming, whacking with iron clubs and shooting explosives harpoons into the lungs of a whale are unacceptable.
    Japan needs to step into the 21st century and forget about whaling as a source of protein. What about shark fin soup in the Orient..why the hell can't these ancient idiotic customs be eradicated..bear gall, rhino horn, tiger balls, somebody stop me now....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, well, here's the latest bad news...Japan recruited a bunch of weak sister pretend countries to vote for them and China abstained, so the pro-whaling nations (them, Norway, Iceland) have taken over the commission with Denmark's surprise vote in favour.

    Aloha, humpbacks.

    It's at http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1090433.ece

    ReplyDelete

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