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Chickens and cows (and dogs) aren’t threatened with extinction. Different sets of people have different objections, but as far as whales are concerned, it’s mos

Chickens and cows (and dogs) aren’t threatened with extinction. Different sets of people have different objections, but as far as whales are concerned, it’s mostly a conservation issue.

kgwgk 8y ago
I imagine many people opposing whale hunting would also oppose whale farming.
- bribroder 8y ago
  The issue which most people oppose is neither whale hunting nor whale farming but whale extinction. Sei whales and certain subspecies of Minke whales, which are the specific species mentioned, are listed as endangered and near-threatened, respectively, on the IUCN Red List.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    This article suggests the Minke whale is of "Least Concern." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale#Population_and_conservation_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale#Population_and_con...
    - bribroder 8y ago
      hence "subspecies": http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2480/0 http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2480/0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_minke_whale#Conservation_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_minke_whale#Conserva... > From 1987 to the present, Japan has been sending a fleet consisting of a single factory ship and several catcher/spotting vessels to the Southern Ocean to catch Antarctic minkes under Article VIII of the IWC, which allows the culling of whales for scientific research. The first research program, Japanese Research Program in the Antarctic (JARPA), began in 1987-88, when 273 Antarctic minkes were caught. The quota and catch soon increased to 330 and 440. In 2005-06, the second research program, JARPA II, began. In its first two years, in what Japan called its "feasibility study", 850 Antarctic minkes, as well as 10 fin whales, were to be taken each season (2005–06 and 2006–07). The quota was reached in the first season, but due to a fire, only 508 Antarctic minkes were caught in the second. In 2007-08, because of constant harassment from environmental groups, they failed to reach the quota again, with a catch of only 551 whales. [...] > In 1966, minke whales became the target of whaling operations off northeastern Brazil (6° – 8°S) due, once again, to the decline of sei whales.
elif 8y ago
No, but animal agriculture (via disproportionate habitat destruction) threatens the extinction of many species.
- macintux 8y ago
  Animal agriculture is in general extremely wasteful and destructive, but it's conceptually vastly easier to stop hunting a few hundred whales by a few countries than to effectively tell everyone in the world they need to become vegetarian.
- komali2 8y ago
  But habitat destruction happens from farming cotton and coffee and sugar as well... So wouldn't it make more sense to pinpoint the issue (habitat destruction/species extinction) rather than cast a wide net over all meat eating?
  - elif 8y ago
    Animal capture in the US alone requires enough agricultural land for feed that the world's hunger problem (815M [0]) could be virtually erased by using that existing farm land for plant agriculture (800M in 1997 [1]). The tropical deforestation cycle is generally understood as: new roads lead to new accessible timber land. That land is then logged legally and illegally and abandoned. Hunger issues push sustenance farmers to slash-and-burn the cleared and abandoned areas for animal agriculture. So, indeed, unless cotton and coffee and sugar behaviors can feasibly resolve hunger issues, it does make sense to focus on animal agriculture. [0] https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-stati... [1] http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-mi...

Chickens and cows (and dogs) aren’t threatened with extinction. Different sets of people have different objections, but as far as whales are concerned, it’s mostly a conservation issue.

kgwgk 8y ago

I imagine many people opposing whale hunting would also oppose whale farming.

bribroder 8y ago
The issue which most people oppose is neither whale hunting nor whale farming but whale extinction. Sei whales and certain subspecies of Minke whales, which are the specific species mentioned, are listed as endangered and near-threatened, respectively, on the IUCN Red List.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  This article suggests the Minke whale is of "Least Concern." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale#Population_and_conservation_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale#Population_and_con...
  - bribroder 8y ago
    hence "subspecies": http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2480/0 http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2480/0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_minke_whale#Conservation_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_minke_whale#Conserva... > From 1987 to the present, Japan has been sending a fleet consisting of a single factory ship and several catcher/spotting vessels to the Southern Ocean to catch Antarctic minkes under Article VIII of the IWC, which allows the culling of whales for scientific research. The first research program, Japanese Research Program in the Antarctic (JARPA), began in 1987-88, when 273 Antarctic minkes were caught. The quota and catch soon increased to 330 and 440. In 2005-06, the second research program, JARPA II, began. In its first two years, in what Japan called its "feasibility study", 850 Antarctic minkes, as well as 10 fin whales, were to be taken each season (2005–06 and 2006–07). The quota was reached in the first season, but due to a fire, only 508 Antarctic minkes were caught in the second. In 2007-08, because of constant harassment from environmental groups, they failed to reach the quota again, with a catch of only 551 whales. [...] > In 1966, minke whales became the target of whaling operations off northeastern Brazil (6° – 8°S) due, once again, to the decline of sei whales.

elif 8y ago

No, but animal agriculture (via disproportionate habitat destruction) threatens the extinction of many species.

macintux 8y ago
Animal agriculture is in general extremely wasteful and destructive, but it's conceptually vastly easier to stop hunting a few hundred whales by a few countries than to effectively tell everyone in the world they need to become vegetarian.
komali2 8y ago
But habitat destruction happens from farming cotton and coffee and sugar as well... So wouldn't it make more sense to pinpoint the issue (habitat destruction/species extinction) rather than cast a wide net over all meat eating?
- elif 8y ago
  Animal capture in the US alone requires enough agricultural land for feed that the world's hunger problem (815M [0]) could be virtually erased by using that existing farm land for plant agriculture (800M in 1997 [1]). The tropical deforestation cycle is generally understood as: new roads lead to new accessible timber land. That land is then logged legally and illegally and abandoned. Hunger issues push sustenance farmers to slash-and-burn the cleared and abandoned areas for animal agriculture. So, indeed, unless cotton and coffee and sugar behaviors can feasibly resolve hunger issues, it does make sense to focus on animal agriculture. [0] https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-stati... [1] http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-mi...