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Meanwhile, Norway kills more whales than Japan on average according to the WDC[1] and proceeds to increase their quota for number of whales they can kill[2] all

Meanwhile, Norway kills more whales than Japan on average according to the WDC[1] and proceeds to increase their quota for number of whales they can kill[2] all while running government-backed campaigns to market whale-meat as hip-and-trendy[3]. The real gruesome thing here is how we're not just hunting whales, but that the ones we do hunt are roughly 60% of the time pregnant ones[4]. [1] https://us.whales.org/whaling-facts https://us.whales.org/whaling-facts [2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/07/norway-boosts-whaling-quota-international-opposition https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/07/norway-b... [3] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-30/whale-meat-marketed-to-young-norwegians-as-hip-and-trendy/9802006 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-30/whale-meat-marketed-to... [4] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/world/asia/whales-japan.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/world/asia/whales-japan.h...

paavoova 8y ago
Iceland and Faroe Islands, as well. Somewhat gruesome "traditionalist" hunting is practiced [1]: baby birds just out of the nest are scooped out of the water and have their heads torn off while still alive. But the sad thing is, it can still be argued to be more humane and sustainable than factory chicken farming. And is probably far healthier, too. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LUv4sEyfcw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LUv4sEyfcw
avar 8y ago
Whatever anyone thinks about whaling, that article from The Guardian has a clear agenda of taking things out of context. It just says "Norway has announced a 28% increase" in year-over-year whaling. That's true, but compare that to historical values: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NorwegianWhaleCatches.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NorwegianWhaleCatches.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Norway#/media/File:Whales_Nordic.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Norway#/media/File:... It's pretty telling that they're not opting to tell you that it's a gradual ramp-up which is still around 1/2 of what they were doing in the 1980s. The larger context here is that in 1992 Iceland, Norway et al. partially split off from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and formed their own North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)[1]. Whaling quotas are now at an impasse where these countries decide them unilaterally, because the members of the IWC won't even have the discussion of what would be a reasonable science-based quota. I have yet to see any suggestion that the whales being hunted in the North-Atlantic by these countries are threatened by these whaling practices. An large year-over-year increase on a relatively small quota tells you nothing. You need to look at how large the total stock is, how long it takes to renew etc. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Marine_Mammal_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Marine_Mammal_C...
- lovich 8y ago
  I was under the impression that most of the push back on whaling is because whales are intelligent/sentient. It's like asking someone what they think a reasonable, science based quota for murdering people is. You're not gonna find a lot of room to negotiate when that's the belief
  - flavor8 8y ago
    That's a slippery slope. Cows are intelligent, and have emotions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8dAnlD51o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8dAnlD51o
    - gascan 8y ago
      It is, but whales are pretty close to the top of that slope. If you elected not to kill any animals due to probable sentience, the short list would probably look like dolphins, elephants, and whales.
      - PurpleBoxDragon 8y ago
        Wouldn't numerous apes that operate in groups that seem like simple societies, some of which have been seen passing down traditions like very simple tool use, make the list?
        ASalazarMX 8y ago
        Yeah, don't eat those too.
        flavor8 8y ago
        Crows? Not that I'd _want_ to eat them.
        King-Aaron 8y ago

paavoova 8y ago

Iceland and Faroe Islands, as well. Somewhat gruesome "traditionalist" hunting is practiced [1]: baby birds just out of the nest are scooped out of the water and have their heads torn off while still alive. But the sad thing is, it can still be argued to be more humane and sustainable than factory chicken farming. And is probably far healthier, too. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LUv4sEyfcw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LUv4sEyfcw

avar 8y ago

Whatever anyone thinks about whaling, that article from The Guardian has a clear agenda of taking things out of context. It just says "Norway has announced a 28% increase" in year-over-year whaling. That's true, but compare that to historical values: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NorwegianWhaleCatches.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NorwegianWhaleCatches.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Norway#/media/File:Whales_Nordic.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Norway#/media/File:... It's pretty telling that they're not opting to tell you that it's a gradual ramp-up which is still around 1/2 of what they were doing in the 1980s. The larger context here is that in 1992 Iceland, Norway et al. partially split off from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and formed their own North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)[1]. Whaling quotas are now at an impasse where these countries decide them unilaterally, because the members of the IWC won't even have the discussion of what would be a reasonable science-based quota. I have yet to see any suggestion that the whales being hunted in the North-Atlantic by these countries are threatened by these whaling practices. An large year-over-year increase on a relatively small quota tells you nothing. You need to look at how large the total stock is, how long it takes to renew etc. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Marine_Mammal_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Marine_Mammal_C...

lovich 8y ago
I was under the impression that most of the push back on whaling is because whales are intelligent/sentient. It's like asking someone what they think a reasonable, science based quota for murdering people is. You're not gonna find a lot of room to negotiate when that's the belief
- flavor8 8y ago
  That's a slippery slope. Cows are intelligent, and have emotions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8dAnlD51o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8dAnlD51o
  - gascan 8y ago
    It is, but whales are pretty close to the top of that slope. If you elected not to kill any animals due to probable sentience, the short list would probably look like dolphins, elephants, and whales.
    - PurpleBoxDragon 8y ago
      Wouldn't numerous apes that operate in groups that seem like simple societies, some of which have been seen passing down traditions like very simple tool use, make the list?
      - ASalazarMX 8y ago
        Yeah, don't eat those too.
        flavor8 8y ago
        Crows? Not that I'd _want_ to eat them.
        King-Aaron 8y ago