Japan hunts whales in the name of science and ignores international pressure

Why do the Japanese cling to whales?

Japanese people dare to take the world by storm, but they have a soft spot for whales, which is closely related to their food culture and commercial interests. Secondly, Japan "unexpectedly" also proposed to expand whaling. Her reasons are: First, whales eat a lot, and excessive protection may endanger the survival of other smaller fish, thus destroying the marine ecological balance; Second, the number of cetaceans is rising. But in fact, these two points are untenable and have been strongly refuted by scientists and environmentalists.

Japan is proud of its whale-eating culture

Whale meat is rare in protein

Mr. Osuke's grandparents were fishermen, so there are many opportunities to eat whale meat. In an interview with reporters, he said that Japan is an island country surrounded by the sea. Before the habit of eating beef spread to Japan, whales were rare in protein. In terms of eating habits, the Japanese don't regard whales as fish, but treat them like pork and beef. After all, whales are mammals. Moreover, unlike pork and beef, whale meat is extremely low in fat and will not have allergic reactions after eating, so it is one of the foods for strengthening the body.

Mr. Liu, who was interviewed at the same time, said that whales are very expensive, and they are no longer common dishes in Japanese families. However, when he was in middle school, he ate whales at school lunch. Whales are precious protein, and he would eat them again if he had the chance.

Mr. Osuga also said that personally, as long as it does not lead to the extinction of fish species, it is necessary to catch them properly. At present, some international regulations are too one-sided and extreme, and the fishing area is shrinking year by year, even reaching an excessive level.

Whale-eating culture has a long history

Professor Takeo Koizumi of Tokyo Agricultural University is the president of the Whale-eating Culture Protection Society. On July 3, 24, he held a whale eating seminar at Showa Women's University in Tokyo. After the meeting, 1,5 people were invited to taste whale rice and whale soup. President Koizumi said that whales, unlike pigs and cattle, are protein that Japanese people can easily ingest. Although they are also mammals, they are not easy to accumulate fat and have no allergic reaction after eating. Japan began to eat whales in the middle of the Edo period, and the bones of whales are still used in the Taigu drum now. The Japanese thank whales for bringing food, and whale cemeteries or worship towers can be seen everywhere. When mad cow disease and bird flu brought life-threatening to people, the organization called for returning to the traditional Japanese diet, eating fish and whales. But one thing is puzzling, why do Japanese people like to kill God and reward their stomachs!

a representative at the meeting said that the earth was destroyed by beef civilization. There are 1.6 billion cows in the world, and one cow will eat 5 kilograms of pasture, which will make the soil hard, the soil and water can not be maintained, and the burps caused by cows will also cause carbon dioxide problems.

The Japan Whaling Association claims that "whaling is an inseparable part of Japanese history and culture, and whaling is for human consumption. The practice of prohibiting commercial whaling is robbing an important part of Japanese culture and tradition. "People all over the world should respect this whaling culture in Japan. Japanese officials are even more naked. They say that Americans ask Japanese to stop whaling just as Indians ask Americans to stop eating steak.

Ordinary Japanese people also have an unusual complex about eating whale meat. In whale meat restaurants in Japan, mammalian whales are treated as a kind of "fish" and processed by various cooking methods, such as sashimi, deep frying, hot pot, cooking and so on. The skin and fat of whales are also specially cooked. Although in World War II, Japan suspended whaling due to the destruction of whaling ships, in order to solve the problem of food shortage after the war, the Japanese found the survival dependence on these marine mammals again. Up to now, there are still a small number of whaling activities in four places, such as Netzou in Hokkaido, Japan, Yokawa in Miyagi Prefecture in the northeast, Hotan in Chiba in the middle, and Taidi in Geshan in the south. In these places, men who are good at whaling become heroes in the hearts of girls. There are various whale museums, monuments and archives. Therefore, whales have an irreplaceable position in the eyes of Japanese people.

This kind of history has influenced the lives of several generations of Japanese. A 6-year-old director of the Japan Whaling Research Institute once told reporters that he was loved by his present wife more than 4 years ago because he often participated in whaling at sea. In order to commemorate this life, he named his son and daughter Taiping and Yoko respectively, and the two together are the Pacific Ocean. He is very sorry that commercial whaling is now banned and the number of whaling has been greatly reduced. A 5-year-old company employee said that whale meat restaurants used to abound, but now it is hard to find, and whale meat has become a high-grade food. Compared with the price that was cheaper than rice in the past, he felt a little funny. Although he is not inseparable from whale meat for every meal, he has been fasting for a long time, and he still misses the fresh and tender taste of whale meat similar to beef.

According to a recent survey by the Japan Whaling Association, nearly 6% of Japanese believe that eating whale meat is closely related to Japanese food culture and should be preserved, except for 1% who are unwilling to comment.

Whaling has commercial significance

In April p>21, the Japanese whaling fleet returned with 44 minke whales killed for "scientific research" after whaling in Antarctic waters for half a year. As the whaling ship sailed to the port, the Japan Whaling Association also launched a new promotion activity-"Save whales, eat whales!" -encourage the whole country to eat whale meat, support whaling, and use propaganda vehicles to tour the country and broadcast recordings calling on the public to eat whale meat, so as to revitalize Japan's international commercial whaling industry.

On July 23rd, 24, Japan Whale Research Institute sold 1,922.8 tons of whale meat (equivalent to 44 minke whales) obtained during the 17th Antarctic whale survey.

the institute pointed out that the sale was divided into four pieces, with 488.9 tons for public welfare, 573.4 tons for general market circulation, 849.5 tons for processing and 11 tons for special specifications. Sales revenue eventually became the fund for whale investigation. At present, the sale of whales is mainly meat and skin. According to the market price, the lean meat at the tail of whales is as high as 6, yen per kilogram, the ordinary lean meat is 2,6 yen, and the fine skin is 3,3 yen per kilogram.

Because of the huge consumer market, Japanese businessmen think that the great pressure from the international community only adds a little trouble to them. Most of their stalls selling whale meat are arranged in the corner of the market, and there are huge whale balloons floating in front of the fish stalls with the slogan "Protect our seafood culture" printed on them.

Whaling is to protect fish

At present, almost all countries in Europe and America stand on the standpoint of anti-whaling and advocate the protection of whales. Japan thinks this is sophistry. Whale hunting began in Europe and America, and the purpose of their whaling was to refine oil. When oil and other oils meet the needs and whaling cannot be an industry, whaling in Europe and the United States will naturally disappear. Whaling in Japan is mainly meat-eating, and the use of whales is extreme. As an industry, whales are still very prosperous in Japan. As European countries, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and other countries also eat whale meat. Japan insists that their whaling is based on scientific investigation and rational utilization.

For a long time, the focus of debate between whaling countries and anti-whaling countries has been the extinction of whales. In response to the voices of environmentalists, the Japanese side lashed out at most members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for their lack of whaling experience and scientific research. The first reason for Japan is that whales eat a lot, and excessive protection may endanger the survival of other smaller fish, thus destroying the marine ecological balance; Second, the number of cetaceans is rising. Japan cited some data, pointing out that the total number of minke whales caught in Japan has increased nearly 1 times compared with the beginning of modern whaling, and most whale species have increased. On the other hand, the Japanese side also stressed that the fishing amount in Japan's coastal areas has declined in recent years, while saury and squid are the prey of dolphins and whales, and whales prey on 3 million to 5 million tons of fish, which is three to six times the fishery consumption of the world population. If this trend continues, whales may even rob people of food and destroy the ecological balance. It is the support of this theory that makes Japanese whaling ships swim freely in the ocean in the name of scientific investigation.

against each other: human beings can't kill other creatures indiscriminately because of practical needs

Japan's whaling behavior has aroused the condemnation of the international community. During the Clinton period, the United States issued a statement to cancel Japan's right to fish in American waters in the future. The U.S. government also canceled the normal bilateral fishery negotiations between the United States and Japan. Eighteen members of the United States Congress jointly announced a congressional resolution. The resolution said that the Japanese government's attempt to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council was resolutely opposed until the Japanese whaling operation met the requirements of the International Whaling Commission and stopped the commercial activities of whale meat trade. The Australian government has issued a statement pointing out that it will never stand idly by and will fight resolutely against whale overfishing. Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, publicly expressed her support for the campaign to ban Japanese whaling. The Foreign Minister of New Zealand once said, "Our position on whaling is very clear. New Zealand will continue to promote the campaign to end whaling within the International Whaling Association. "

whale watching tourism

has more commercial benefits than eating

Experts have pointed out that the commercial viewing value of living whales is much higher than that of dead whales. The International Fund for the Protection of Animals also recently stated that Japan's so-called "research whaling" is to cover up commercial purposes.

Michael McIntyre, director of the Asia-Pacific region of the International Fund for the Protection of Animals, said that the global commercial value of whale watching reached $1 billion a year. Among them, whale watching tourism in New Zealand can earn 11 million dollars a year, attracting more than 425, tourists. This tourism industry benefits 87 countries and regions, with as many as 9 million people. McIntyre said: "We have now realized that living whales are much more valuable than dead ones." Moreover, some analysts have pointed out that whaling is of little help to the Japanese economy. It is understood that the development concept of whale industry can drive a large number of related industries, such as tourism, catering, accommodation education, related products and marine research, which will be driven by the development of whale watching industry. Not only that, the development of whale watching industry gives whales a safe and benign living space, but also brings continuous ecological resources to mankind.

In Japan, contrary to the government's claim that its citizens enthusiastically support whaling, some media surveys show that the actual situation is quite different from the high demand for whale meat advocated by the government. The vast majority of Japanese citizens have either never eaten whale meat or haven't eaten it for a long time. But in order to change people's tastes, the Japanese government has also come up with new promotional activities to call on the public to eat whale meat.

The cetacean population is still facing the extinction crisis

Whale is the largest mammal in the world, and it was almost extinct in 196s because of excessive killing. In recent years, the number of some species, including sperm whales, has recovered, and scientists believe that it has reached the number that can be killed. Japan also insists that the whale population is rising. Others, however, take the bloody history of whaling as evidence, and believe that whales will be over-hunted again if the "prohibition of killing whales under the age of 18", which was implemented in 1986, is abolished because the whaling industry is difficult to be effectively controlled. Moreover, because whales are highly migratory animals, it is difficult to accurately investigate their numbers, and the prospects are not optimistic.

Most large cetaceans are concentrated in the waters near Antarctica. In the 198s, there were about 76, whales in the South Pacific. With the intensification of hunting, the number of whales decreased sharply. The blue whale is the favorite hunting target of whalers, but after less than 1 years of unrestrained hunting, 99% of the blue whales have been killed.

The North Atlantic right whale is the rarest whale species in the world, with a population of less than 3, which is expected to be extinct within 2 years.

In one year alone, Japan hunted more than 5 minke whales and 44 sperm whales. Norway plans to kill 655 minke whales this year.

International organizations opposed to whaling believe that the establishment of whale sanctuary can provide more protection for whales whose habitats and breeding grounds are threatened. Humans can't kill and use all other creatures because of practical needs.