Hi Iréne,

The article is good in that it points out the plight of the Ainu, the Japanese government should take it upon themselves to address that issue. But they should not neglect the people of Japan who want to utilise whales as food, just because they are a minority group currently. A group being in the minority is not a good reason for them to be neglected. The Japanese government should fix their policy regarding the Ainu, rather than their policy relating to whales.

There was around 4000 tons of whale meat left in stocks at some point in 2006 because whale meat isn't consumed instantaneously. Over the last 12 months the average amount of outgoing stock from those stockpiles has been around 700 tons per month, which would see the stockpile vanish in less than 6 months were supply to stop completely. If they stopped whaling, it's not like that stockpile would still be there a year later.

It's correct enough that Japan hasn't traditionally consumed meat from the Antarctic, but they have in their coastal waters. On the other hand as an IWC signatory Japan does have the right to whale on the high seas in accordance with the provisions of the ICRW.

I think nations that have adhered to the ICRW are justified in hoping to hunt whales on the high seas if they do so sustainably, and I think nations that have traditionally harvested resources in their coastal waters are justified in hoping to do so, if they do so sustainably. I think there is general confusion about which justification is being used for which sort of whaling amongst Greenpeace and other anti-whaling groups.

Keep steaming South.. they can't be that far from you...

There was a radio show on the BBC radio4 website:
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/radio4/aod.shtml?radio4/warofthewhales

I can't beleive the amount of unsold meat... Yet I am starting to learn that man kind can be that bad.

Do we respect nothing anymore?
Unfortunately it seems so.
This is a sad day for species.

Where do I sign up to adopt a whale and bring it up in my bath?

haha excellent article.

Hello David

You wrote "A group being in the minority is not a good reason for them to be neglected." That is just silly. The Ainu can call themselves a minority:

Cambridges dictionary online:

"minority (PEOPLE) noun [C] any small group in society that is different from the rest because of their race, religion or political beliefs, or a person who belongs to such a group"

The whale meat eaters in Japan are in minority, but just because you share a certain taste in food with other people you don't have the right to call yourself "a minority group".

But the bottom line is that the minority of people who are pro whaling have no right to go down to Antarctica and kill whales by the thousands.

Of course the stock of whale meat is diminishing: last seasons hunt was cut short due to the accident onboard the Nisshin Maru. Furthermore the Japanese government is working hard to convince more people to eat more whale meat, by feeding it to school children for example.

Strangely enough the price on whale meat has been halved over a decade, I can see a couple of reasons for this happening:

- Price is set low deliberately to stimulate demand and make more people buy the meat.

- There is so much whale meat in stock that the government wants to get rid of it.

There is no confusion David: the Japanese government has blown the cover (that was already not covering very much) and clearly expressed that the aim with the hunt is to overthrow the IWC ban on commercial whaling. Their "scientific" results do not answer the question whether the hunt is sustainable or not - in fact 20 years of research can't even exclude the possibility of whales being immortal.

- Iréne

Thanks for your cordial response Iréne.

I take your point that people who choose to eat whales don't fit that dictionary definition of a "minority group".

As for the right to whale in the Antarctic, in terms of international law there are certainly people with recognised rights to hunt whales in the Antarctic.

As for "blown the cover", actually the Japanese government has always been clear that it represents the hope that the IWC's temporary pause on commercial whaling will be lifted as soon as possible. As members of the IWC they are quite entitled to hope and indeed expect this.

We are agreed that the stock of whale meat is being consumed. Maybe surprisingly, the volume of meat allocated to "public purposes" hasn't increased in recent times, so the recent whale meat consumption rises appear to be driven by private consumption. You may have seen the news of the whale curry being sold this week by a Tokyo lunch vendor. The comments reported in the western media from potential consumers interviewed seemed to suggest that most were happy to try the dish (of their own volition).

One possible reason for price decreases that I will add is that it could be due to the increase in meat available from the programmes. I believe there is around twice as much meat made available as a result of the JARPA/JARPN programmes now as there was back in the 1990's. Naturally with more meat available, more people will potentially be able to consume it.

I don't know about your "so much whale meat in stock" statement, however. The Japanese market received a peak 220,000 tonnes of whale meat stock back in the early 1960's. The current stockpile of around 4,000 tonnes is insignificant by comparison, and only makes up a tiny fraction of the total marine product stockpile (well above 1 million tonnes). Also, much of the meat is stored in private storage facilities. Private operators won't stock something if they don't think they can sell it later.

Whether there is a market or not is quite irrelevant to the core question that doesn't get addressed much: Is it OK to view whales as a source of food resources for humans? I think some kind of not so complex solution that meets the desires of all parties should be possible to reach. The sooner the better, as then everyone will be reasonably happy, and we can all worry about some far more significant issues.

Hi Irene,

It's interesting to see how Greenpeace have been rising the issue of the Ainu people to criticize the Japanese whaling policy recently.

I am pretty much interested in Ainu culture and people, and really hope the Japanese government will recognize the indigenous right of the Ainu soon.

However, considering Greenpeace's strong concern for the Ainu cause, I'm a bit surprised not to have seen anybody from GP Japan at the Charanke festival which took place in Western Tokyo last month and during which Ainu and Okinawa traditional songs and dances are performed.

Besides, what would GP think if the Ainu who used to whale, were to ask for whaling quotas? Some people in the Monbetsu branch of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido have already such plans.