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With the misleading word "Research" painted large on its hull, this Japanese whaling ship will kill and package whales for market.
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The whaling company has doubled its usual kill to more than 900 minke
whales and, for the first time, will hunt up to 10 fin whales, with
humpbacks on their list for next year.
Is whale meat a Japanese food staple?
No it isn't. One third of Japanese have never eaten whale meat. Half the population hasn't consumed it since they were kids. Only four per cent of Japanese people eat it regularly.*
Based on these figures, whale meat and whaling are not relevant to daily Japanese life.
* Source: Japanese newspaper, Asahi, opinion poll 2002
Fin whales are listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) and by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). They barely survived decimation by commercial whaling, and now hover at less than 20 per cent of their original population. They are the second largest whales in the world, smaller only than blue Whales.
Says Greenpeace campaigner, Jason Collins, “The Australian government must stop grandstanding about its opposition to whaling and take real action to protect whales in the Southern Ocean.
“As they won’t intervene to stop the whalers, the government should at least monitor the activities of the whaling fleet, and address the impacts of climate change and pollution on our migrating whale populations.”
Climate change is causing a decline in krill, a whale's main food source, as Antarctic sea ice melts. Australia fuels climate change as the developed world’s largest per capita greenhouse emissions culprit and the world’s largest coal exporter.In June 2005, Greenpeace launched a petition asking Australian prime minister, John Howard, to protect whales in the Antarctic. The petition received an incredible 31,931 signatures.
Meanwhile, the whaling continues each year. Once killed, the whale carcass is measured and weighed onboard, then cut up and boxed for market.
Is whale meat a Japanese food staple?
No it isn't. One third of Japanese have never eaten whale meat. Half the population hasn't consumed it since they were kids. Only four per cent of Japanese people eat it regularly.*
Based on these figures, whale meat and whaling are not relevant to daily Japanese life.
* Source: Japanese newspaper, Asahi, opinion poll 2002
Fin whales are listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) and by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). They barely survived decimation by commercial whaling, and now hover at less than 20 per cent of their original population. They are the second largest whales in the world, smaller only than blue Whales.
Says Greenpeace campaigner, Jason Collins, “The Australian government must stop grandstanding about its opposition to whaling and take real action to protect whales in the Southern Ocean.
“As they won’t intervene to stop the whalers, the government should at least monitor the activities of the whaling fleet, and address the impacts of climate change and pollution on our migrating whale populations.”
Climate change is causing a decline in krill, a whale's main food source, as Antarctic sea ice melts. Australia fuels climate change as the developed world’s largest per capita greenhouse emissions culprit and the world’s largest coal exporter.In June 2005, Greenpeace launched a petition asking Australian prime minister, John Howard, to protect whales in the Antarctic. The petition received an incredible 31,931 signatures.
Meanwhile, the whaling continues each year. Once killed, the whale carcass is measured and weighed onboard, then cut up and boxed for market.
