Looking for information on Dolphin harvesting in Futo

[dcpac]

I just won't say anything but everyone who knows me knows what I would say

 

[Squalus]

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.

Your reference to a dolphin as a fish is missguided.....they are mammals

 

[Kim]

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.

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.
We won't get into the American political and ethical system here either - as it's against the TOS. There are differences of culture and beliefs at play here that shouldn't be pre-judged without at least a bit of knowledge of the actual realities.

 

[Kim]

Your reference to a dolphin as a fish is missguided.....they are mammals

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'.

 

[Squalus]

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'.

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.

 

[Kim]

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.

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.

 

[Squalus]

Are they not the same people who support finning and whaling in the name of science? Have you ever studied dolphins, looked at the documentries over years of study? You would be suprised how close in resembelence the dolphin is to a biped. We are not perfect, yes there are travesties that have occured here where an entire species of wolf has been eradicated from the face of the earth. We learned from that...a little too late but, there are programs that stemmed from that to prevent the extinction of animal species from the face of the earth.

 

[Kim]

I think that you'll find that Iceland and Norway also support whaling. As Archman pointed out earlier somewhere - the Japanese catch a couple of hundred Minke whales a year and that is probably quite sustainable. I personally don't like whaling either - and I won't eat it. Some people, who would probably call themselves realists, would probably call me a tree hugger for what I believe. I do try to understand all sides of an equation though, so that what I believe is based on my interpretation of the facts as I know them.
The video was awful - sick - barbaric. For that reason it inspires gut, emotional reactions. I just think that to do anything effective - or even discuss what might be done - you need a clear head.

 

[Squalus]

Me?

 

[Kim]

No - I didn't mean that personally! Maybe I should have phrased it differently -
'one needs a clear head'. Sorry - I'm tired and need to go get some sleep....