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Kijana · #75 (**permalink**) 12-20-2007

Wow, this thread blew up in a hurry.

I know a little bit about this subject (I do research related to commercial fishing currently and actual commercial fishing has paid the bills for me a couple of summers in the past). I can go on and on with this topic, but I'll keep it brief (I'll try anyway).

The history of the whaling industry in Japan is actually a really interesting one, especially since it really doesn't make that much money related to the cost of protecting it to the extreme that the Japanese government does. The research angle has been used to keep it alive since the time of the ban, but there is nothing "research" about it. There is a clause in the whaling treaty (which Japan is a signatory of) which allows for the use of whales that are taken for research. The spirit of that clause was to allow the whales taken for research back in the day to not go to waste for native peoples, but Japan has exploited that loophole. And it has been shown repeatedly by some very CSI-like DNA research that Japan has been whaling in places where they said they weren't and aren't supposed to (waters between China and Japan), and species that they are not supposed to be whaling. Add to the fact that real whale researchers have developed techniques to study whales by not taking them, and it's pretty obvious that the research angle is bogus (I don't even think you can get the "data" that supposedly get on these research cruises if you asked).

The problem is that the Japanese population is fed in large part by fishing, probably more so than any other country. The demand is high, so fishing rules are often broken. They also have the largest fishing fleet in the world, and often overfish all over the place. When I went up to Alaska to fish, the commercial industy up there was (and probably still is) not fond of the Japanese for good reason. They have been known to be pirates when it comes to obeying fishing laws.

The whaling industry, in a way, is the line in the sand for Japan. They know if that if they submit to pressure on that front, they might have to submit to pressure on the real industry of commercial fishing. But, this is a big issue with the Western public (I call it the Free Willy syndrome, people love whales), so they have to be careful on how they do it because they don't want to hurt the market for fishing, which is becoming bigger all the time. So, you get this political dance, with Japan claiming that it is for "research" when it is anything but the case. It's all about keeping the industry alive until they can get enough countries in the commission to overturn the ban on whaling (the U.S. and Japan have both supported other countries financially to support their side on the commission, ones that you would never dream of havung any stake or care in whales. All to stack the deck for their side).

And the tide of the commission is starting to sway to Japan now. That is why they have expanded their "research", including species like humpbacks that everyone knows are very vulnerable to population crashes (ie long-lived, late-maturing, slow-growing species) and are well below carrying capacity (humpbacks were the poster children for this for many years).

So, I understand why groups like Greenpeace are pissed off. But, I don't support their methods, which are counter-productive and end up pissing off the very people you are trying to get on your side. I think they would be better off in the long run to go about it another way.

And, yes, any collision at sea is not good. I don't even care if you are at the boat launch when it happens, it's never good. Fishing on the open ocean is a lot like being on a spaceship sometimes. You can radio mission control to let them know what is happening, but it doesn't mean they are going to be able to help you. You are on your own out there.