Japan Cancels Whaling Season

Blog #5

On Friday, Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Michihiko Kano to reporters that the country's government halted whaling because of actions taken by Sea Shepherd, an animal rights group. He stressed that Japan did not want to do so, but felt its hand was forced because environmentalists’ made it dangerous for whalers. This is the first time Japan has ever canceled its whale hunt since it the beginning in 1987. Sea Shepherd began fighting with Japanese whalers in 2005, watching them and occasionally getting into physical fights. Capt. Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel called the Steve Erwin, said they have gained support, while Japanese whalers have become less of a force, especially economically. He suggested that his group was able to "bankrupt" the fleet so that it wasn't economically feasible to keep going. Animal rights groups, from Greenpeace to Sea Shepherd, and the governments of Australia and New Zealand, have publicly condemned Japan's hunts. Watson said it was wrong for the Japanese minister to label him and others as dangerous, adding that no one has ever been hurt in their efforts.

This is pretty monumental since it is the very first time a whaling season has been called off. Japanese whalers do what they do under the pretense of conducting scientific research, but practically all the whale meat ends up in markets. You have to consider that yeah, the whalers are going to go without jobs and the supply and demand of whale meat is going to be screwed up for awhile. But I hope this is going to be the end of whaling because what’s a couple hundred jobs compared to extinction of a species.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/japan.whale.hunt/index.html