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Iceland going back to hunting whales
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Just heard on the news they are going to start hunting whales for apperantly scientific purposes - to see if they affect fishing stocks BUT many say this is a first step towards full scale commerical hunting.
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The only research the Japanese seem to be conducting is whether whale meat tastes best with sake or soy sauce.
These two countries (and Finland) have been waging a tireless campaign to remove the moratorium on whale hunting. One of the many tricks they have done is to offer vast amounts of money to small states and principalities if they change their vote on the issue of the moratorium.
If there was ever a good case for a commercial and cultural boycott of a country, this is it.
Stupidity will continue to rule.
They have no purpose at all.
Shouldn't that be "porpoise"? [/crap sea-mammal related joke]
Btw, is your sig by any chance inspirated by RHCP?
No, more from my "Dirty Old Man" ID and the Electric Six song "Gay Bar"... Sadly I could see the humour in it...
So, back on topic, do you think that boycott's don't achieve anything?
Boycotts have a purpose, and a good one.
They allow ordinary people to protest and apply pressure when they feel not enough is being done to correct a situation.
Some boycotts are successful but the majority don’t achieve much, simply because not enough people join in.
Of course, Greenpeace now admit that their information was incorrect, but hey they got their way...
Where they burnt it instead?
Boycotts do work if enough people join in. Most of the ones that succeed are over trivial matters, such as Argos being boycotted until they withdrew a 'sexy' line of children's underwear from stock. The biggest one I can think of is the one MoK mentioned.
There is a boycott of Esso (prop. Exxon) service stations afoot because of the company's disgusting plans for oil drilling in the Artic, but only a few people observe it. If the boycott was to be observed properly throughout the world you can bet your bottom dollar Exxon would drop their plans to drill in the Artic faster than you can say "oil barons are scum".
It is easier to successfully boycott a company than a whole country. But even if the boycott has little chance of success it is a question of general principle.
From what I can remember, it was taken to Norway and cut up.
Seems that Greenpeace along with several governments of the time essentially ignored scientific data confirming that Minkie Whale hunting would not threaten the population at all.
Because they're beautiful and intelligent creatures. Plus they're gonna get extinct if we're not careful.
I don't like the "scientific" cover up though. We should just say that we are intending to start whaling again. Some whale species are endangered, but not all. And what they are whaling now is (I think) the most common whale to be seen around Iceland.
I can't see anything against whaling as long as we are not whaling the endangered ones and try to keep it as humane as possible. Not much different from other type of hunting if you ask me.
And someone mentioned making money off tourists instead. Trust me, the whale watching people are enraged indeed.
And if someone has not noticed, then I am Icelandic.:p
It's the mountains and the fact that the men have such wonderful singing voices, I guess...
[/second crap gag of the thread]
Yep, thats the one. Undermined much of the good work Greenpeace does.
I don't think it is hypocritical at all. The difference is that we breed the cows as a food source. Iceland isn't breeding whales, at least not to my knowledge.
I don't think that people object to the slaughter of whales because it is barbaric so much as the fact that whales are an endangered species. Well, that would be my reasoning anyway.
Out of interest, I think the biggest threat to Icelandic fish stocks are the trawlers themselves, rather than the whales.
Soon will be tho'
Actually, yeah I know that there are over 50,000 of them. In this instance Iceland wants to take 250 per year (or something like that) and so the impact on the minkie population will be minimal. By the same token, the positive impact on the Icelandic eco system will also be minimal, so why will they do it?
Personally, I think that this is the thin edge of the wedge and should be prevented on that basis. We would want to see precendence set, would we?
In the case of Norway, these fishing villages happen to depend very highly on the controlled culling both for the whale meat itself as well as the other by products of their catch, all of which are used to support the local community.
And no, these villages do not have ready alternatives as they are largely in the far northern region inside the polar circle.