Next week, the 62nd meeting of the International Whaling Commission takes place in Agadir, Morocco. The main issue facing the voting members will be for a compromise on an IWC ad hoc proposal, which would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to hunt openly despite a moratorium on commercial whaling, but put their programs under strict IWC monitoring and aim for sharp reductions in their catch over 10 years.

This could be a very interesting event.

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Eudaimonia

Leave the damn whales alone is my vote!!

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I'm with you, Fangtasia!

This almost has something to do with this. It was an ad created for a TV show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW2k...feature=related

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

I know this sounds somewhat callous, but whale hunting by native tribes has been going on for at least a couple hundred years. Entire societies and economies have been built around this industry in the past. Is it no different than hunting deer or raising cows for slaughter? My only philosophy to any hunting, whale or otherwise, is to use as much of what is killed as possible.

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"BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Will he offer me his mouth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his teeth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his jaws? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Again, will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes! GIRL: Yes. BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Yes. BOY: I bet you say that to all the boys!" -Meatloaf

There's a big difference in subsistence hunting, like the Inuit and other groups, and going out in industrial slaughter ships taking whales they have to give away in Japan because so few want it. Norway is the same, on a lesser scale.

That they hide behind scientific sampling is even worse.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Only the Japanese adopt that legalistic position. The IWC regs admit of at least(only?) 3 conditions under which member nations may legally engage in whaling.

Objection: A country formally objects to the IWC moratorium, declaring itself exempt. e.g. Norway
Scientific: A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits', any IWC member can do this. e.g. Japan
Aboriginal: IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. e.g. Eskimos (Alaskan Inupiat to be PC)

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Eudaimonia

I had it mentioned to me that there was a superstitious element to this, that the eating of the flesh of the leviathan was to share in the power of the beast.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Some cultures also ate the hearts of certain animals believing the same thing. Some cultures revered the eyes more than anything else.

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"BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Will he offer me his mouth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his teeth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his jaws? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Again, will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes! GIRL: Yes. BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Yes. BOY: I bet you say that to all the boys!" -Meatloaf

In the Middle East you can find sheep's brain and testicles in some markets (suqs). I have enjoyed the former, but not the latter.

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Eudaimonia

The biggest difference to me with hunting deer/sheep etc meat to whale meat...is there is a damn sight more of the former than the latter.

Whales take so long to reach sexual maturity and look after the calf for a very long time before they have another. They have no hope of surviving extinction if they are taken in commercial quanties, they are suffering now with just so called 'scientific' research.

If they could procreate at the same rate as other animals used commercially for food, then it would not be such an issue. But they cant...that is a fact. If they did there would be whale farms out there making the most of their commercial value!

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A compromise is up for debate at the IWC's meeting opening tomorrow.

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Eudaimonia

A close scrutiny of the Japanese history with tuna quotas doesn't give me any hope here.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

As I understand it, the EU’s position on the compromise will:

Seek reduced catch limits in the Northern Hemisphere, that would guarantee a significant improvement in the conservation status of whales in the long term, moving towards the final goal to ban the whaling activities which are not in line with the moratorium on commercial whaling within an agreed time-frame.

And:

Support phasing down significantly all whaling in the Southern Ocean over the coming years and having a phasing out of whaling in that Ocean within an agreed time-frame.

My reading is that they will buy into the compromise.

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Eudaimonia

It may seem callous but whale oil is no longer used other than true indigenous people though I believe there is a market for whale oil in Japan ? to sum up my belief Ted Neugent is my President