dcpac
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I just won't say anything but everyone who knows me knows what I would say
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Your reference to a dolphin as a fish is missguided.....they are mammalsKim:This is obviously abhorrent. However I think we should keep it in perspective. The people doing this possibly number a couple of hundred - if that. Not all the fishermen from these towns agree with it either. This in a country of 85,000,000.
Who remembers the videos of the seal pup slaughters in Canada? To me they were just as awful, and not even for food - for clothes! Lets face it - people eat meat and fish - and it's not always pretty how they get it. Actually the vast majority of the Japanese people are also against the slaughter - that's why so many places have stopped it. Then the fishermen found out that they could actually make more money than before by taking people out to see the dolphins - so in many places it's win-win.
Actually the fishermen get about 10 times more money for a live dolphin than a dead one. If people stopped going to see the dolphins jumping through hoops etc, then the main reason to catch them would disappear overnight. I very much doubt if it would remain commercially viable to continue catching them just for food. I've lived in Japan for 5 years now and I eat out regularly. I've never seen dolphin on the menu - people don't want it.
You are taking this into the realm of politics by these presumptions. Suffice to say - the overwhelming majority of Japanese people also don"t want Japanese troops in Iraq - but they are there.archman:If operating in U.S. waters, those fishermen would all be jailed for felony offenses, and the vessels impounded. That they continue to operate, despite their small number, points out a lack of interest by their government. A lack of government oversight implies a lack of public support to discontinue the practices seen in the video. A "silent majority" of disapproving citizens bears little political clout.
If this sort of behavior is truly abhorrent to the Japanese people, they should be voicing their concerns to their legislative bodies.
I'm not trying to defend the practice - I don't.DMP:Your reference to a dolphin as a fish is missguided.....they are mammals
Kim:I'm not trying to defend the practice - I don't.
As far as mammals go - so are cows, sheep, pigs, and seals. That never stopped humans from using them for whatever purpose they wish. Actually - I never called dolphins fish anyway - I am fully aware they are not. It"s just that we don't normally call 'fishermen' - 'mammalmen'.
This I agree with - they ARE butchers. Look at my earlier posts and you'll see I already mentioned the seal slaughter. All I'm really saying is don't prejudge the entire Japanese nation/cultural system etc, based on the publicized actions of a few people. You'd get it very wrong. We can all look at our own home countries and find stuff that we really, really, don't agree with.DMP:How about we call them butchers......doesn't matter anyway. People will do what they want to do, no matter what the masses say. I remember the killing of defenseless seal pups for their fur.