Whaling- what do you reckon?

dan719 · 02-12-2009 01:03AM #1

Just after watching whale wars on Discovery Channel, and was pretty much disgusted at the tactics of the Sea Sheppard crew. Okay, I understand you disagree with whaling, but putting just one human life in danger is far too high a cost to save what is ultimately an animal.

It also got me thinking, why is whaling so looked down upon. We think nothing of catching thousands of tonnes of cod in our own waters, as well as most other type of fish. The Japanese have used used whales as a food source for a long time, why should they not be entitled to build a sustainable fishing industry similar to what we have for cod/lobster/monk and so on. Just as an aside, mink whales (which the Japanese catch 935 of a year for 'research' are currently increasing).

So what do you think, should whaling be allowed in countries where it was traditionally practiced?

Edit; I'm pro whaling- I don't see it as any different to catching other fish for food.

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 01:07AM

When I see a whale die, I feel all blubbery.

The_Minister · 02-12-2009 01:07AM

We did this a few days ago.

And your sig makes you seem a little more biased than you're letting on.

The_Minister · 02-12-2009 01:08AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

When I see a whale die, I feel all blubbery.

May none of your sons carry your blood.

dan719 · 02-12-2009 01:10AM

The_Minister wrote: »

We did this a few days ago.

And your sig makes you seem a little more biased than you're letting on.

Sorry I'll edit my post. Just to clarify, I am pro whaling. Also I don't remember that thread.

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 01:12AM

The_Minister wrote: »

May none of your sons carry your blood.

Especially not if they're carrying it off in buckets down to the black market. :eek:

Borneo Fnctn · 02-12-2009 01:16AM

You'd swear whales were the only animals killed by humans that feel pain. I think it's reckless to mess with the balance of ecosystems though. Killing a huge mammal like a whale has a fucking huge effect on other species.

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 01:23AM

jackpalance wrote: »

You'd swear whales were the only animals killed by humans that feel pain. I think it's reckless to mess with the balance of ecosystems though. Killing a huge mammal like a whale has a fucking huge effect on other species.

The history of civilisation is based on messing with the planets' eco-systems - from farming, to industrialization. Do you suggest we go back to living in caves?!

On another note - anyone know what whale meat tastes like? (Don't say "a bit like chicken")

CHD · 02-12-2009 01:26AM

Whale meat tastes like chicken

orourkeda · 02-12-2009 01:28AM

I prefer dogging

Borneo Fnctn · 02-12-2009 01:47AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

The history of civilisation is based on messing with the planets' eco-systems - from farming, to industrialization.

I don't think it's a good idea to have a free for all. Knock off a few whales if they can be spared. You won't know how killing too many whales will affect the fishing industry (for example) until it happens.

Do you suggest we go back to living in caves?!

No, of course not.

dan719 · 02-12-2009 01:54AM

jackpalance wrote: »

I don't think it's a good idea to have a free for all. Knock off a few whales if they can be spared. You won't know how killing too many whales will affect the fishing industry (for example) until it happens.

TBF it would probably have a benefit on the fishing industry, in that they would no longer have to compete with whales for fish. It is also reasonable enough to assume that a suitable increase in fishing quota would keep the food chain relatively stable.

clikityclak · 02-12-2009 01:56AM

Those 'Sea Shepards' are a bit of a farce really aren't they? I think for countries where it's the native industry thats somewhat acceptable, but then that gets exploited too....

Stercus Accidit · 02-12-2009 01:57AM

I saw the south park episode of these guys before I watched the show tonight, and I was lol'ing my hole off at these gits

Gormless lame hippies, clueless surfers and socially inept losers (I'm looking at you first mate) not to mention tubby the captain, the japs might inadvertently fire a harpoon at him given the amount of blubber he's packing.

A lol fest all round, recommended!

MikeC101 · 02-12-2009 02:01AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

On another note - anyone know what whale meat tastes like? (Don't say "a bit like chicken")

Depends on where on the whale it's from - the bit I had was a little similar to beef I think - though it was with a pretty spicy sauce. Some cuts are oilier / fishier tasting apparently, they had "whale bacon" as well. (This was in a restaurant that served whales that were accidentally killed or died naturally - so they claimed.)

dynamopiev · 02-12-2009 02:02AM

one of top five best walls in the world

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 02:05AM

MikeC101 wrote: »

This was in a restaurant that served whales that were accidentally killed or died naturally

Yuk - I wouldn't eat a cow that died of old age or eat roadkill.. if it's going in my mouth, I wanna know that it was born, bred & slaughtered for my pleasure - not afterthought.

damone · 02-12-2009 02:05AM

so nobody here would mind if any of these specie s of whale s went the same way the dodo did ?

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 02:08AM

damone wrote: »

so nobody here would mind if any of these specie s of whale s went the same way the dodo did ?

That's like asking - should we eat all the cows until there's none left? The discussion is not about whaling them into oblivion.

The_Minister · 02-12-2009 02:09AM

damone wrote: »

so nobody here would mind if any of these specie s of whale s went the same way the dodo did ?

Only some species of whale are endangered. Minke whales could be hunted in large numbers and be ok.

Stercus Accidit · 02-12-2009 02:10AM

damone wrote: »

so nobody here would mind if any of these specie s of whale s went the same way the dodo did ?

You could say the same about cows, and be equally wrong.

Minke whales are under the "least concern" category according to the IUCN.

FarmerGreen · 02-12-2009 02:11AM

MikeC101 wrote: »

(This was in a restaurant that served whales that were accidentally killed or died naturally - so they claimed.)

Marine road kill.
Its horrible, tough as old boots and fishy.
Try kangaroo or horse.
Human beings "long pig" tastes like pork so I'm told. Certainly smells like it, if ever you've been burnt.

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 02:15AM

FarmerGreen wrote: »

Marine road kill.
.

I accidentally reversed into a whale in the floods in Cork.

MikeC101 · 02-12-2009 02:15AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Yuk - I wouldn't eat a cow that died of old age or eat roadkill.. if it's going in my mouth, I wanna know that it was born, bred & slaughtered for my pleasure - not afterthought.

The impression I got was that they were "accidentally" caught in nets, rather than accidentally, and that was just there to keep the environmental lobbies happy. Plus it might be a little hard to breed whales for food all that easily, they're kinda big.

(Much like dog restaurants just went a little lower profile after international pressure, which seems to have led to overall worse conditions for the dogs.)

starbelgrade · 02-12-2009 02:17AM

MikeC101 wrote: »

The impression I got was that they were "accidentally" caught in nets

Or on big fishing rods.

damone · 02-12-2009 02:21AM

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

You could say the same about cows, and be equally wrong.

Minke whales are under the "least concern" category according to the IUCN.

yeah id say there might be a few more cows around than whales!
are minkes the only whale that are being fished ?

Crow71 · 02-12-2009 02:26AM

**** u whale and a **** u dolphin

Only kidding, it is terrible though

dan719 · 02-12-2009 02:31AM

MikeC101 wrote: »

The impression I got was that they were "accidentally" caught in nets,

I looked at this for a while and was equally incredulous, but there is actually at least two methods of fishing where this could happen.

One is seine or purse(ringnetting) fishing. Basically a massive net is shot in a big circle enclosing the entire area and everything in it. It's used to target so-called pelagic species such as herring and mackerel. I've heard of many cases of dolphins being caught, so it's not hard to imagine the same happening to whales.

The other is mid water trawling. Again this targets pelagic fish and involves a massive net being towed along. The net covers all but a small bit of the water column, and can theoretically have large mammals as bycatch.

Demersal fisheries (i.e. seabed floor species) using bottom trawling and tangle nets could not realistically catch a whale. They are simply too big.

Edit. Apparently it is possible for whales to become trapped in gillnets. These nets are used mainly for cod and pollock in Ireland and kill the fish by 'drowning it', it catches it's gills on the mesh (hence the name) and cannot breathe. I suppose that with large enough mesh sizes (gaps in net), whales can be killed also.

mcmoustache · 02-12-2009 02:48AM

If whales could be slaughtered sustainably, I don't see the problem.

But just to make my biases clear, I am also of the opinion that poor people should eat poorer people:eek:

Ddad · 02-12-2009 02:54AM

There are a number of reasons why it is inadvisable to continue the harvest of large whales. All whale populations exist at a fraction of their populations a century ago.

Whales also reach their size slowly and as such they become a sink for the pollutants that us fine folk wash into the sea. As such they contain very high levels of mercury etc. For the most part many of these whales that are killed for 'scientific' reasons are harvested for consumption. In Japan much of the ehale meat that is harveted is not consumed by humans as the demand for the whale meat follows an older demographic and consumer concumption has dropped. As such the meat is in frozen stock piles or makes its way into the animal food chain.

The argument is often advanced that traditional consumption of whale meat should be allowed for cultural reasons. This is a tenuos one as in the case of many whale species their numbers are in such peril the need for cultural consumption will ultimately result ib their extinction. The people of Fiji practised cannibalism a century and a half ago as part of their culture but they got over it.

On an economic front none of the whaling operations in the world are independently profitable, they all require substantial supports from their governments.

So, to recap.......the meat is bad, it's not profitable, there are very few of them around and the whole moral question of pursuing a species to the point of extinction hangs in the air. Still seem like a good idea to eat whales?

kumate_champ07 · 02-12-2009 03:03AM

the reason why its different to killing cows,chickens and pigs for food is that its a very slow, distressing and painful death for a whale

Whaling- what do you reckon?

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