Japan seeks help on Sea Shepherd!! Sea Shepherd have stopped the Japanese Whale Hunt!

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Kalina

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Japan has pleaded with the Australian government to prevent Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling vessels from leaving port.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Dennis Richardson says Japan sometimes asks Australia to do things it cannot do.

"They have for instance asked us at times to prevent the Sea Shepherd leaving Australian ports," Mr Richardson told a Senate estimates hearing.

"And we can't legally do that."

Australia would not intervene to stop peaceful protest, he said.

"We have stated that to the Japanese on numerous occasions," Mr Richardson said.

The Japanese government last week confirmed it was cutting short this season's whale hunt, citing harassment from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Activists from the US-based Sea Shepherd have pursued the Japanese fleet for weeks to keep its harpoon ships from killing whales.

Mr Richardson said Japan's announcement was "encouraging".

"But I think it would be premature to jump to a view that it reflects a change in policy," he said.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8216122/japan-seeks-help-on-sea-shepherd[hr]
Thursday, February 17, 2011
VSO Day
Victory in the Southern Ocean Day for the Whales

t’s official – the Japanese whaling fleet has called it quits in the Southern Ocean, at least for this season. And if they return next season, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be ready to resume their efforts to obstruct and disable illegal Japanese whaling operations.

“The Nisshin Maru made a significant course change immediately after the Japanese government made it official that the whaling fleet has been recalled,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen from the Bob Barker. “She looks like she’s going home!”

The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker has been tailing the Japanese Nisshin Maru factory ship since February 9th making it impossible for the whalers to continue their illegal whaling operations.

“I have a crew of 88 very happy people from 23 different nations including Japan and they are absolutely thrilled that the whalers are heading home and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is now indeed a real sanctuary,” said Captain Paul Watson.

The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and Gojira will remain in the Southern Ocean to escort the Japanese ships northward. “We will not leave the whale sanctuary until the last whaling ship has departed,” said Gojira captain Locky MacLean.

“This is a great victory for the whales,” said Captain Watson, “but we did not do this alone. Without the support of the people of Australia and New Zealand, we would not have been able to send voyages out for seven seasons from Australian and New Zealand ports. We are grateful to Senator Bob Brown and the Australian Greens Party. We are very grateful to Mr. Bob Barker for giving us the ship that turned the tide in our efforts to force the Japanese fleet from these waters. We are grateful to all our onshore staff and volunteers, supporting members and ship crews. We are grateful to the Chilean Navy and the government of France for their support. It is a very happy day for people everywhere who love whales and our oceans.”

It’s official – the killing of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is over for this season and the whalers did not even take 10% of their quota. Sea Shepherd estimates that over 900 whales have been saved this year.

“It’s a great day for the whales,” said Sea Shepherd Chief Cook on the Steve Irwin Laura Dakin of Canberra, Australia, “and it’s a great day for humanity!”
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-110217-1.html
 

zoogrl

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Yay! I used to watch the show on animal planet about this, I'm so glad that Sea Shepherd is able to make a difference!
 

ChiKat

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That's wonderful!! Thanks for sharing :)
 

CtTortoiseMom

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RE: Japan seeks help on Sea Shepherd!! Sea Shepherd have stopped the Japanese Whale H

That would be pretty amazing! Paul Watson is prob celebrating as we speak!
 

Candy

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This is wonderful new Kalina. What wonderful people they are to do what they do time and time again to help these innocent animals. Got to love them! :D
 

ALDABRAMAN

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Outstanding forward progress. I am glad. If I could I would participate on the mission.
 

Cameron

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at the risk of crucifiction on this forum...am i the only one who thinks the crew of the sea shepherd are essentially terrorists?
 

coreyc

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Hopefully you are the only one. Why do you think that they are terrorists? They are just trying to protect the whales from being slaughtered
 

shellysmom

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Cameron, you're probably not the only one, but I bet you're outnumbered here. Just my guess. As for me, I think Captain Watson is a little nutty, but if that's what it takes to keep the Japanese from exploiting a loophole in the ban on whaling, then I'm all for it.

I love the name of your sulcata, by the way. That's hilarious.
 

Cameron

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coreyc said:
Why do you think that they are terrorists?

Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

I watched the show once, or at least as much as I could stand and this definitely fits what I saw....
 

Robert

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Red Earth Exotics said:
at the risk of crucifiction on this forum...am i the only one who thinks the crew of the sea shepherd are essentially terrorists?

I watch Whale Wars. I root for the Sea Shepard crew. I feel badly for the whales. I also watch Deadliest Catch and root for the guys to pull up full pots of crab.

At the same time, I feel badly for many of the crew on the Japanese ships as well. They have been raised in a culture where what they are doing is completely ethical and legal. They, like many of us, are just working to support their families. They are paid based on intake load, so an early departure from the season due to Sea Shepard intervention probably means that many of these guys are going home with less than 10% of their expected income. For those guys, I also feel badly. (I'm sure many would disagree and claim that they should have made better career choices. I don't know enough about the Japanese economy to begin making career suggestions to young fisherman.)

I do support the fact that Sea Shepard uses non violent means of protest, although that point is debatable.

I do find it interesting that Discovery Channels two top rated shows are Deadliest Catch and Whale Wars: one about supporting commercial fishing and the other about protesting commercial fishing.

So to answer your question Cameron, to a conservationist they are heroes, to the Japanese fisherman they are terrorists.
 

Cameron

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CtTortoise said:
Red Earth Exotics said:
at the risk of crucifiction on this forum...am i the only one who thinks the crew of the sea shepherd are essentially terrorists?



At the same time, I feel badly for many of the crew on the Japanese ships as well. They have been raised in a culture where what they are doing is completely ethical and legal. They, like many of us, are just working to support their families. They are paid based on intake load, so an early departure from the season due to Sea Shepard intervention probably means that many of these guys are going home with less than 10% of their expected income. For those guys, I also feel badly. (I'm sure many would disagree and claim that they should have made better career choices. I don't know enough about the Japanese economy to begin making career suggestions to young fisherman.)

This is my biggest gripe. These people have been eating and using whales and whale meat for CENTURIES. It is ingrained in their culture. Just because people don't like to see whales killed that doesn't give them the right to completely dismiss or bash their culture. It all goes back to some people can't stand other people to think differently then themselves. So therefore, they feel compelled to change others and the way they live and think instead of minding their own business and realizing that people, cultures and countries are different.
 

coreyc

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I agree with Shellysmom they are exploiting a loophole they are only
suppose to take whales for research the only research they are doing is how to avoid the Sea Shepard How many whales need to be killed a year for research ? Where are there studies what are they learning ? I think they are doing it for profit not research :)
 

Robert

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coreyc said:
I think they are doing it for profit not research :)

I agree. The other issue is that Sea Shepard, according to Paul Watson, does not go after whale hunters in their own countries waters. This is why he does not go after the Dolphin Cove in Taiji. (Although two sea shepards were arrested there, it was not a Sea Shepard sanctioned protest.). Paul Watson feels that they are policing protected waters in the southern ocean which is dedicated as a whale sanctuary through non violect acts meant to curtail poaching.

So to counteract the terrorist accusation, they are claiming they are just citizens policing international waters in a whale sanctuary, they are not trying to forcibly change Japanese culture through violence. If the culture changes, that would just be a beneficial side effect.
 

Cameron

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This is taken from the we Japan Whaling Assoc. website. I have no reason to believe they are lying...do you?

http://www.whaling.jp/english/index.html



Is the research being undertaken by Japan in the Southern Ocean an illegal activity not authorised by the International Whaling Commission?


In Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), the Contracting Parties have an unrestricted right to take whales for scientific research. Japan is a signatory to this Convention.

When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced in 1982, the main reason the anti-whaling nations gave for its introduction was the uncertainty surrounding the scientific data then available. In other words, they argued that safe management of whales was not possible because knowledge of the number of whales, age composition, sex ratio, and natural mortality rate was ambiguous.

The research catch by Japan was launched to answer such questions and resolve the uncertainties.

Many members of the IWC Scientific Committee recognize the importance of the research, and value highly their results. However, during the past several years, the IWC anti-whaling majority has repeatedly passed resolutions calling on Japan to reconsider the current research catch and insisting that research should be limited to non-lethal methods.

Anti-whaling proponents have tried to label the research catch as commercial whaling in disguise, but this is a tactic to discredit the research effort.

In the research program, the vessels are run on a predesigned track formulated by scientists, and conduct surveys and collects specimens such as earplug and ovaries. After scientific examination and removal of tissue and organ samples, the remains of the whales are frozen and marketed in compliance with the provisions of the Convention, which forbid any part of the carcass to be wasted. However, as the cost of research is expensive, the proceeds from sales of whale meat and parts alone cannot cover the costs. The Government of Japan pays the remainder of the costs.

The research is carried out by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), a semi-governmental organization of the Japan Fisheries Agency, established in 1987.

Q2 How often is research conducted?

Japan currently conducts the whale sampling research in the Antarctic and the northwest Pacific.

There is need to carry out the research every year as the number of samples collected and the area surveyed by one cruise per year is very limited, particularly given the size of the Antarctic Ocean.

The data necessary for the management of the whale resources must show changes in trends over time. Continuous sampling is indispensable to enhance the accuracy of the research.

Q3 What are the types of research into whales?

There are two broad types of research which are conducted into whales. Non-lethal and lethal.

There are advantages and disadvantages associated with both lethal and non-lethal methods. For example, non-lethal methods are inadequate for population research of whales, as well as other marine life, but is suitable for examining whale behaviour in slow-swimming species.

A large range of information is needed for the management and conservation of whales, such as population, age structure, growth rates, age of maturity, reproductive rates, feeding, nutrition and levels of contaminants. This type of important information cannot be obtained through small DNA samples or analysis of organochlorine, but only through lethal research.

The Japanese whale research program has obtained valuable information on whales by using non-lethal and lethal research.It has also enabled us to calculate the amount of fish consumed by whales - which is approximately between 280 million tonnes and 500 million tonnes per year. In contrast, humans harvest around 90 million tonnes of fish each year.


Q4 Benefits from Japan's research program have not been promoted so it must be just a cover for whaling.

This is not true. There have been dozens of scientific reports and information made available to the public in brochures on the findings of the Japanese research program.

The difficulty faced by the Japanese researchers is the interest of western media, who have failed to run stories in newspapers etc about the results. The results are available on the The Institute of Cetacean Research Website: http://www.icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm

Q5 Why does Japan conduct whale research in the Southern Ocean when it is an international whale sanctuary?

It is important to understand that the Southern Ocean Sanctuary applies only to commercial whaling. It does not apply to research. Japan's research catch of whales in the Antarctic is perfectly legal under Article VIII of the Convention which provides that any contracting Government may issue a special permit authorising the take of whales for scientific purposes.

The proposal to establish a Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, which abruptly came up at the 1992 IWC meeting, was a political push by anti-whaling nations to put an end to whaling regardless of reason. It was also an attempt to drive a wedge between Japan, which wishes to establish a system of conservation and sustainable use of marine resources in all areas, and such countries as Norway and Iceland that seek to resume whaling in their national waters.

The anti- whaling forces sought to impose a total ban on whaling in the Antarctic regardless of the fact that the IWC has the ability to safely manage the sustainable use of the areas abundant whales including a population of over 760,000 fast-reproducing minke whales. The proposal was adopted in 1994, without regard to scientific evidence that argued against the need for a sanctuary.

The scientific evidence researched by the IWC's Scientific Committee demonstrated up to 2,000 minke whales could be taken each year without any impact on their population. This is the basis on which Japan is making its request for establishment of a commercial whaling quota. Of even more concern is that the creation of the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary is the imbalance this is causing to the ecosystem.

It is common sense in wildlife resource management that excessive protection of only one part of an ecosystem, especially the component at the top of the food chain, except when it is at a very low stock level, will impair the balance of the ecosystem as a whole and will invite instability of the resources in question.
 
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