Looking for information on Dolphin harvesting in Futo

[Squalus]

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....

It's ok Kim. We all need sleep sometime

 

[Rickg]

Kim,

You probably won't ever see dolphin listed on a menu because, as you say, that would be like eating "Flipper" and would be abhorrent to the Japanese. Some of the dolphin actually "masquerades" as "whale" on some memus and there are still a lot of Japanese people that don't have a problem with eating whale.

I haven't lived in Japan since '95 but do travel there 4-5 times a year and it seems like eating whale has become more popular again in Japan the past several years, more so than in the late '80s/early '90s.

Rickg

 

[archman]

There's a much simpler explanation for why one doesn't whale/dolphin meat on the menus of countries that permit limited harvesting. Lack of supply. "Menu" items by necessity need to be readily obtainable by the restaurant, in sufficient quantities to cater to their customer requests. If adequate and continuous supply cannot be met, items such as this will be offered when they ARE available, but off the menus as "catch of the day".

This is why you don't see shark on a lot of menus either, or sea turtle... anything that's infrequently caught or caught in limited numbers.

In the case of the minke whale "fishery", the small town that supports the whaling ship DOES get ready access to whale meat. I saw the local schoolchildren eating it on a TV special.

If anyone really wants to sample dolphin or porpoise, head out to the west coast of South America. There's a prolific commercial fishery in either Chile or Peru, maybe both (I always get them confused). It will be offered in the street shops as "sea pork", and there's TONS of the stuff.

The international whaling treaties apply to whales, NOT dolphins.

 

[Otter]

There was a recent BBC documentary about this in Japan. I believe that there are still two towns in Japan that haven't stopped - maybe one was in Izu, they were south of Tokyo in any event. The reason it has been stopped in about 95% of the places that it used to occur is precisely because Japanese people don't want it to happen - so it's non-productive to say that they haven't learnt anything.
It's kept very low-key where it does happen and the locals don't want to talk about it or have publicity. The catch is eaten entirely locally - for the rest the dolphins are also sold to the marine parks. As there are also marine parks and dolphinariums all over the planet - including Europe and the US - one has to presume that something like it happens everywhere. How else do these places get their dolphins otherwise.

The places where it does happen are in steady decline as well. This is due to the overfishing of the dolphin populations - so there are simply not many left in those areas to catch.

Are you saying that I have to presume that in the quest for SeaWorld to get performing dolphins, they slaughter them, drag them behind trucks, or simply gaff them in the water. I just want to know what I need to presume.

 

[Kim]

Are you saying that I have to presume that in the quest for SeaWorld to get performing dolphins, they slaughter them, drag them behind trucks, or simply gaff them in the water. I just want to know what I need to presume.

The BBC documentary went into quite some detail about the whole dolphin trade. Obviously this video showed the most extreme footage they could put together and is totally disgusting.
How Seaworld gets it's dolphins I don"t know. However as one specific example from the documentary they tracked down an Australian guy who lived in the Philippines. He acted as a middle man directly between the fishermen and many marine parks. They were shipping dolphin all over the world that were being caught in the same way that you saw.
As Archman said - according to the documentary the dolphins that are killed are all eaten locally.
At the end of the documentary they showed their footage - not quite as bad as this one, but still not nice - to a young Japanese girl from Tokyo who had posters of dolphins all over her room, and visited marine parks very often. She was in tears by the end of it. It's really not like everyone knows what is happening here and condones it. Most people simply don't know.

 

[whalerkyle]

....but do they taste good? Is the entire dolphin consumed? Is it filled with nutrients? I saw a cattle slaughter video once, and it was WAY more gnarly than that video. I also visited the Yody Turkey farm in Illinois, holey moley, talk about a blood bath.

 

[Kim]

I don't know about dolphin but judging from other stuff here they probably eat absolutely everything except the bones - but they probably make soup from them as well! Very small fish for instance they eat completely - head, tail, bones - the lot. The same goes for small prawns. When they eat them this is also true for whales. They don't waste anything at all. There are no 'left-overs'.
When my wife was a kid whale meat was one of the cheapest things that you could eat. Obviously that meant that poorer people ate it a lot. That's all changed now, and where it is available in restaurants it is a lot more expensive than it used to be.
whalerkyle - I totally agree with you about things like cattle and turkey - not to mention all the other animals that are killed for mass production of food. How about veal for instance? or kosher food preparation? or Muslim food preparation? There is quite a list. Also, sometimes I'm driving and see the animal transport lorries on their way to the slaughter-houses - it makes you want to weep, it's very sad. At the end of the day though - people go to the butchers to buy whatever, and they don't seem to think twice about where it came from, or how it got there. Many that actually do think about it turn vegetarian!

 

[Otter]

....but do they taste good? Is the entire dolphin consumed? Is it filled with nutrients? I saw a cattle slaughter video once, and it was WAY more gnarly than that video. I also visited the Yody Turkey farm in Illinois, holey moley, talk about a blood bath.

I think there is a difference between a 'stupid' animal be slaughtered and one bordering on self-awareness.

 

[Kim]

I think there is a difference between a 'stupid' animal be slaughtered and one bordering on self-awareness.

I probably agree to an extent with this. Pigs are supposed to be very clever as well though - and horses.......well....

I don't think that anyone here is condoning this practice - I'm not. I'm just trying to see it in perspective - and also prevent any misunderstanding of the nature of the vast majority of Japanese people.

 

[akioMtFuji]

Video was shot 18 November 2003.....I wonder if they still kill whales in the name of science as well?

No!
They want to eat whales.
They want to eat dolphin.
Futo is famous for the dolphin hunting.
Taichi(Kii Peninsula) is famous for the whales hunting in Japan.
Miyagi Saga and Chiba were famous for the whales hunting.

I've never seen dolphin on the menu - people don't want it.

It is probably because it is very expensive.
I've ever seen dolphin on the menu in Izu Peninsula and Islands.

There are differences of culture and beliefs.
Japanese eats a whale, Eskimo eats a seal, Chinese eats a monkey, PNG people ate a person.:hai:
Kujira-ya in Shibuya is a whale food restaurant.
Kujira-ya is always crowded.
I don't go because I don't eat a whale.

Because they ate a whale food, many people say that days after WW2 was tided over.
As for whale food, I ate in my school lunch.

I don't think about whale food with the necessity now.
But, that is only my thinking.
Many Japanese want to eat whale food.

The video of dolphin is cruel.
Probably, cow, sheep, is cruel, too.

日本捕鯨協会(Japan Whaling Association)
http://www.whaling.jp/