Iceland Resumes Whaling

Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
19 October 2006
Kristinn Gudfinnsson
Minister of Fisheries
Government of Iceland

Dear Mr Gudfinnsson:
Your nation has taken up whaling, though on a small scale. The three worst murderers of marine mammals will continue to be Japan, Norway and Canada. You will have to work hard to catch up. None of that will make a damn bit of difference to a helpless minke whale vomiting its life's blood out in agony we can only guess at. I'll bet your big tough whaling men make a lot of money at this.

Congratulations. I'm sure you feel very proud of yourself.

David James Brown

 

Yea I once sent an email to the ambassador of the Norwegian Emabassy a few years ago. I do confess to doing a bit of spamming in such regard. Anyway, I received a nice reply making out that it was only a small scale cottage industry.

 

don't worry about it, down here in australia the australian government regularly allows the japanese to take as much fish as they want and kill the whales in australian waters all with the blessing of our honourable government. the japanese government must be laughing its head off at the aussies. if japan tried invading these days the govenment would probably roll over and accept their mighty leaders. everyones into killing endangered species these days maybe we should just get on board.

 

Wrong.

The whales that are harvested by Japan and Norway are NOT endangered. Actually, it's the exact opposite problem which is why many governments are allowing the whaling to occur in their waters. The whales that the Japanese hunt are a predatory species that have no natural enemies other than man and when their population remains unchecked, they consume the available food sources and cause the decline and forced migration of other whales, dolphins, porpoises, and sharks.

They aren't going out and killing blue whales or humpbacks.

 

Shhh, your not suppose to enlighten people on those sort of facts. We are not supposed to care about others traditions or ways of life either, we are just supposed to complain and make everyone leave animals and fish alone. Shame shame on you.

If you start looking at all of the picture instead of tid bits the whole balance will be thrown off, caould you imagine the heart attacks then?

 

I've revised my original angry response since I don't want to get banned from this site by the system administrator.

Do you mean to say that we humans, who have been whaling for not more than a thousand years (except Innuit peoples), and who have driven most species of marine mammals close to extinction in the last 200 years, have a right to build factory ships and slaughter these beautiful creatures with harpoon tipped cannons?

These species have been in a magnificent balance for millions of years. It would take more than one PH. D. to understand the biological feedback loops involved. Are you trying to tell me it's just fine to kill whales? And -- please don't hand me the economic argument. I don't give a damn about the blood drenched bank accounts of the Jap or Norwegian whalers. Or the Canadian sealers, for that matter.

 

yes it is fine to kill marine animals, not to the way most are doing it now, but humans have always been apart of that magnificent balance you speak of. and for seals the only reason why people where against it was because they are cute.

 

You are completely wrong on the first bolded statement. Innuits were not the only ancient people that whaled for more than 1000 years. I suggest you brush up on your Biocultural Anthropology.

The second bolded statement is extremely arrogant of you. You are suggesting that you yourself(as merely a whale-lover posting on Hipforums) know more about the varied whale species and the vast oceanic ecosystems than any of the hundreds of men and women who have been studying those exact things for decades.

That and your continuous emotional wording is why no one will ever take you seriously.

 

yea this is true, many of the tribes on the northwest coast of north america whaled. do you not remember when the makah started again years ago and lots of people where prostesting. I am sure in most coastal places where there was whales there was also humans hunting them.

 

Also, the people of the Easter Islands, some coastal African tribes, and the entire South Pacific(the Japanese included).

Gee we could on.

You know what miffs me more than whiners whining about whaling? Whiners whining and helping support legislation in African countries that make it illegal for native citizens to sustanance hunt.

And don't get me started on people who do things like what Pink did a few years ago when she wrote a letter slamming Prince William because he participated in a traditional Masai deer hunt.

 

Cynical Otter:
I refer you to
http://nzae.org.nz/files/#53-SCHNEIDER-PEARCE.PDF,
Schneider and Pearce, "What Saved the Whales, An Economic Analysis of Twentieth Century Whaling", University of Otago, NZ and University College London, UK.
I could cut and paste some of their arguments for you, but I'm sure you have the time to go there and do your own reading.

You're right, I'm no whale expert, and I am emotional about this, thank God. If you don't take me seriously, there are plenty of scholars and diplomats who share my point of view. You could have a look at the websites of Sea Shepherd Society or International Fund for Animal Welfare, for a start.

And if you still think you have the right to go out there and kill marine mammals to make a buck (sperm whales make good oil for certain spacecraft assemblies, according to Schneider and Pearce), I feel sorry for you. Get well soon.

 

wow what a ignorant statment. you are doing a very poor job at debating your side of things.

I knew about the northwest tribes hunting whales because I am from one of those tribes. My tribe makes alot of money from killing marine animals (salmon, halibut,cod, crab and shrimp) this is where most of our income and employment comes from. I work for my tribe in the fisheries and environment department as a scientist and guess what we have more of a intrest then anybody at keeping our resources. It is our native right to carry on fisheries as formally and it is something we have done for a very long time. using resources from the sea is not some very evil thing but the way the governments have managed these resources in the past have been bad.

So yes I do feel I have every right to make a buck killing marine animals.

 

Send smoked salmon, and lots of it, yum yum yum!

I dont think ruining the livelyhood of others for a whale is my idea of good. I figure if they use good management great.

 

You may be an environmental scientist, but you don't read too good, let alone spell. I said "marine mammals", not "marine animals". I'm not talking about cod and shrimp here.

The IWC stats I have show that of the 43 whales killed by U.S. citizens in the 2003-2004 season, all were bowheads, including seven struck and lost. All were killed by aboriginals.

That is from a total of 1693 whales killed by all nations that year. If the native people have to knock off a bowhead now and then, I can live with that. It's a far cry from Japanese factory ships killing them by the hundreds (767 in 2003-2004) and calling it 'research', then making perfume, cat food and machine oil of them.

Source (statistics): luna.pos.to/whale/sta_2004.html.

 

opps, sorry about that, but that was a simple mistake which anyone could have made.

and sorry if my spelling offends you but it is not like you have perfect grammer.

regardless if you said mammels or animals it was still a very general statment which goes against many aborigionals right to carry on fisheries as formally. It is possible to kill marine mammels for profit and still make it a sustainable resource.

 

Say Komokwa,
You're from coastal BC, which likely makes you a Haida. If you're paid as an environmental scientist, you ought to at least learn English. Your tribal council ought to get their money's worth, at least. Most Canadians, like it or not, don't speak your native tongue. If you say I don't have perfect grammer (spelled "grammar" for those who can't afford a dictionary), lay it on me, I'm always willing to improve. Not that you can improve on me. In fact, I'm trying hard to think of one single thing I stand to learn from you. And that includes topics like whaling and the environment. Have a good day.

 

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Dirtydog, your debating skills are horrendous at best. All you can do is pick on the typos of someone who obviously knows more about the subject of whaling than you do. That is the number one sign that you cannot hold your own in a discussion.

Try learning some actual facts before bothering next time.


BTW, as someone who went to college for both Anthropology and Ethics..I am well aware of Schneider and Pearce, and their GreenPeace ties. You citing them as a credible source is as laugheable as citing Ingrid Newkirk as an authority on Veterinary Sciences.

 

Arw Minkie Whales endangered?

Is that the species discussed here ?


My spelling can be better too.

 

haha

if you think every scientist spells everything correctly then it is very obvious you have never met any, well at least on the level of knowing thier writing skills. Spelling has never been one of my strong points, but thats why when I work I go over my reports and get others to proof read them. Science is much more about logical thinking and seeking the truth then spelling. Do not think you can judge me based on an internet argument and some spelling mistakes. also most of my post are when i am at work taking a short break so i do not have time to care if i offend someone with my spelling. anyways I am sure you understood what I meant.

did you know that there are several tribes in the west? I am part haida but that is not the tribe I work for.

I never said I was an expert with whales but it is something which I am very interseted in. In fact I do alot of marine research firguring out populations of different species and I want to learn more about determing whale populations in my traditional territory. I do not care what you think working with animals and the environment is something I plan on doing the rest of my life. I agree with you that alot of mistakes have been made in the past but I do not agree with you that no one has a right to certain resources if managed properly. If the whales are in danger then no I do not think they should be killed but if the population is large enough then I think there is nothing wrong with using the resource.

 

I dont claim to know a whole lot about whales but I do know this.

My grandfather was a whailer in Pico Azores. This is one way in which he supported my family. All the whale loving hippies on this forums need to realize that whales put food on the table. During the dictatorship in portugal at the time there were not a lot of ways to make money, Whaling was one way. My grandfather earned enough money to buy a ticket to Canada in 1964 and worked construction for 8 months until he could afford to send my father, uncle and grandmother. I would not be here in Canada if it were not for Whaling.

With that out of the way whaling was banned in portugal sometime in the 80's I believe. My dads cousin who is a scuba diver for the University of the Azores told me this past summer that whale populations are starting to get out of control. This is first hand from a man whos in the ocean almost every day.

controlable whaling is not a problem. Whiney hippies who have nothing better to do than say "Poor poor whales" are a larger problem IMO.

I think this "Poor poor whale" syndrome is due in part to not being in touch with the reality of whaling. It provides jobs among other things. Of course anything in excess is bad thats why there are regulatory body's in place to make sure we dont overharvest.