OUTRAGE OVER WHALING ... #2 <cont>

...
Wow. Lost reputation, a hefty fine for illegal activities, closure of the restaurant & promises of self-imposed acts of contrition ... I'm guessing that The Hump had no choice but to close down. Probably lost all it's customers along with its reputation.

,,,The investigation into The Hump was started after members of the general public brought information to NOAA. Anyone with information about the illegal sale of marine mammals is encouraged to call the NOAA Law Enforcement hotline at (800) 853-1964.

RULE 1--Above all else, your food should not kill you

Non lethal whale research team returns
March 15, 2010/THE AGE

An international scientific team has returned to New Zealand with data showing whales can be researched without being killed.

Scientists from Australia, New Zealand and France on the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research ship Tangaroa arrived in Wellington today after a trip to the Southern Ocean to investigate whale activity and to disprove Japan’s claim whales had to be killed for research.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the world’s largest non-lethal whale research expedition has returned with a range of new information that will help future marine mammal conservation.

He says the expedition has shown there are effective ways to collect a range of important whale data without killing them.

During the six weeks in the Southern Ocean more than 60 biopsy samples were taken and satellite tags were placed on humpback whales to provide movement data.

The research will be presented to the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco in June.

AAP

Leading article: The moratorium on whaling must stay.

In the month when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, meeting in Doha, failed to take action to protect the bluefin tuna from extinction, it is even more depressing to learn that the International Whaling Commission is now seriously considering plans to end the moratorium on commercial whaling.


Of course the Commission plans " being hatched by committees meeting behind closed doors reading for the next meeting in Morocco in June " are not being presented as a step back in the protection of arguably the world's most majestic mammals. Perish the thought. The idea, according to its proponents, is to produce a new compromise agreement under which whaling can take place under controlled circumstances and tight quotas. In place of the old regular rows between those in favour of the ban and the three countries " Japan, Norway and Iceland " who simply ignored it, there would now be an agreement to keep everyone happy. The whalers will be allowed to go about their trade officially sanctioned, but their catches will be limited, supervised and DNA testing of whale meat will be introduced to test its origin. But there will be commercial whaling for the first time since the moratorium was introduced in 1986. The word "moratorium" will be kept but the principle will be broken and the practice allowed.

We all know the reasons. It is the same whether you are talking about selling ivory stocks, allowing the trade in rare animals or stopping the fishing of bluefin tunas. There are powerful vested interests involved, particular national industries, local economies and ethnic particularities. To understand political motivations, however, is not to accept them. The simple reality of the seas is that stocks can be rapidly depleted to a point where the breeding grounds cannot recover and whole species can be made extinct.

The moratorium on commercial whaling was the first great international agreement to cope with a threatened catastrophe in the oceans by imposing a near-total ban on commercial exploitation of this endangered mammal. Its reversal now would be a tragedy.

Amazing discovery.: You can actually conduct scientific research on whales without killing them!

What Do Whales Eat?

The whale is the top predator in the ocean. It eats animals, which makes them a carnivore.The whale eats marine mammals and seabirds. They also eat a variety of fish such as salmon, cod, flatfish, hake, herring, and smelt. They also eat other kinds of whales. They also eat seals, sea lions, walruses, and occasionally sea otters and penguins. Lastly, they even eat squid, octopus and smaller sea creatures.

.....According to a recent report by the marine conservation organization Oceana, Hong Kong imports up to 10 million kilograms of shark fins, representing up to 73 million sharks, every year. The fins, imported by fishermen from 87 different countries, can fetch more than $1,300 each. Shark fin soup, in turn, sells for more than $100 per bowl....An earlier proposal to create more transparency in the shark trade was also shot down last week when Japan and other member nations argued that it would hurt poorer economies.

New Zealand calls for whaling compromise

Allowing whaling nations to kill a limited number of the animals is the only way ensure control, New Zealand's representative on the issue has said.

Former PM Geoffrey Palmer said attempts to reach a global deal on whaling would fail unless nations could compromise.

Australia, which wants a total ban on whaling, has expressed alarm at Mr Palmer's comments, and said it could not back such a scheme.

Japan, Iceland and Norway together hunt more than 2,000 whales each year.

Mr Palmer, who represents New Zealand on the International Whaling Commission (IWC), said whaling nations had increased the size of their hunts in recent years.

Not all cultures or all nations see that issue the same way, and because of that you have to arrive at an international accommodation
Sir Geoffrey Palmer

Culture clash over whaling

But he said the main problem was that there was no effective way of controlling how many whales were hunted.

He said a compromise would lead to "a big reduction in the total number of whales killed compared with now".

Mr Palmer said that if the IWC did not agree to a compromise when it meets in Morocco in June, all control over whaling could be lost.

"There is a big risk of that and I don't relish it," he said.

Japan has not stated publicly how far it is prepared to reduce the size of its annual Southern Ocean hunt.


'Awful alternatives'

Mr Palmer said that the "emotional attachment" to a total ban on whaling was unrealistic.

"There is a great deal of unhappiness in New Zealand about killing whales, and that's true of other public opinions in many countries," he said.

Whaling: the great betrayal
Outrage as secret deal set to sweep away international moratorium
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Tuesday, 23 March 2010


Agreed in 1982, and introduced in 1986, the whaling moratorium was brought in after a prolonged and intense campaign by green pressure groups.

The moratorium on commercial whaling, one of the environmental movement's greatest achievements, looks likely to be swept away this summer by a new international deal being negotiated behind closed doors. The new arrangement would legitimise the whaling activities of the three countries which have continued to hunt whales in defiance of the ban " Japan, Norway and Iceland " and would allow commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary set up by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1994.

Conservationists regard it as catastrophic, but fear there is a very real chance of its being accepted at the next IWC meeting in Morocco in June, not least because it is being strongly supported by the US " previously one of whaling's most determined opponents.

Should the deal go ahead, it would represent one of the most significant setbacks ever for conservation, and as big a failure for wildlife protection as December's Copenhagen conference was for action on climate change.

Agreed in 1982, and introduced in 1986, the whaling moratorium was brought in after a prolonged and intense campaign by green pressure groups highlighting the fact that many populations of the great whales had been drastically reduced by over-hunting " blue whales, the largest of all, had been driven to the brink of extinction " and that whaling itself, based on the firing of explosive harpoons into large and intelligent animals, was cruel.

However, three countries carried on commercial hunting regardless: Japan, by labelling its killing "scientific research" " a fiction believed by no one " and Norway and Iceland simply by lodging formal objections to the agreement.

Between them, although there is little market for whale meat, they have since killed more than 30,000 great whales, mainly minke whales, but also Bryde's, fin, sei and sperm whales " to the anger of many conservation-minded countries, in particular a group led by the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The result has been that IWC meetings have been characterised by unending confrontation between pro- and anti-whaling factions and the proposed new deal has arisen out of a three-year attempt to bring the altercations and arguments to an end.

After a series of meetings " behind closed doors " two IWC working groups have crafted a compromise proposal which is intended to end the confrontation by "giving something to both sides".

For conservationists, it suggests there might be reduced catches by the whaling countries, observers on some whaling boats, and a DNA database to trace the origin of whalemeat. But in return, there will be official IWC "quotas" set for whales they may hunt, in all the places where they currently hunt them in defiance of the moratorium, including the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, for the first time in 25 years. The quotas are being negotiated for a final version of the proposal, which is currently in draft, due in a month's time. It will be voted on at the IWC conference in Agadir, Morocco, in June.

Despite the fact that the proposal says "the moratorium shall remain in place", meaning that it will not be specifically abolished, the new arrangements overturn it and mean commercial whaling will be legitimised.

"This deal spells disaster for whales," said Vassili Papastavrou, whale scientist for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "I can't imagine how the very countries that fought so hard for the adoption of the whaling moratorium and the establishment of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary should now even be considering legitimising commercial whaling. If this goes ahead, the IWC will abandon science and return to the dark days of the 1950s."

The fact that the proposal says the moratorium will remain was "being extremely economical with the truth", said Mark Simmonds, head of science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "These are weasel words," he said. "Even though the moratorium would remain in place, the reality is that it will be nullified. The proposal on the table is quite frankly disastrous. It legitimises commercial whaling once again." The British Government is unhappy with the proposed new deal. "At present we have a number of significant concerns which mean we could not support it, not least that there's no guarantee of a significant reduction in the number of whales killed in the short term," Huw Irranca-Davies, the Fisheries minister, said last night. "Nor does it provide for a phasing-out of either scientific or commercial whaling."

The proposal has some powerful backers, even among countries which were formerly solidly opposed to commercial whaling's return " a fact which substantially increases its chances of adoption at Agadir. Principal among them is the US, whose officials in the negotiations have been strongly backing the proposal. This is thought to be in part because of a specific problem " the subsistence whaling quotas for indigenous Inuit peoples in Alaska, which the US is obliged to seek from the IWC every few years.

In 2002, in return for American hostility to its "scientific" whaling, Japan blocked the quota, causing the US considerable embarrassment before the Japanese backed down. The next quota request is due in 2012 and some observers think the US wants to make sure it is on terms with Japan so the quota will not be blocked again.

Another surprise supporter of the proposal is New Zealand, although Australia is strongly opposed to the plan.

Japan charges anti-whaling activist
By Brigid Glanville
Updated Fri Apr 2, 2010 9:18pm AEDT


Mr Bethune is being held in a maximum security prison in Japan. (ABC News: Jayne Landsberg)

Japan has charged a New Zealand anti-whaling activist who boarded a whaling ship on charges of trespass and injuring a crew member.

The captain of the Ady Gill, Peter Bethune, could face up to 15 years in jail.

Mr Bethune was detained after forcing his way on board a whaling vessel in Antarctic waters in February.

Since then the New Zealand government has provided ongoing consular assistance.

Mr Bethune is being held in a maximum security prison in Japan.

His wife Sharyn Bethune says he is barely coping and she is very concerned for her husband's well being.

"He is in the maximum security prison at the moment, which houses murderers, rapists and people like that," she said.

"But he is kept pretty much on his own. He has three meals a day of cabbage soup and rice, and he says he's very very sick of cabbage."

His father Don Bethune says he would like more to be done to help his son, who has been held for the past 20 days.

"It's quite clear that they're trying to make an example out of him to discourage anybody else who has ideas of upsetting the goings-on down in the Southern Ocean," he said.

Mr Bethune is facing five charges, including trespass and causing bodily injury.

The most serious charge is causing bodily injury. If he is found guilty of the charge, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Earlier Greens Senator Bob Brown said it was horrendous that Mr Bethune is facing the prospect of a lengthy jail term in Japan.

Senator Brown urged Australia take retaliatory legal action over the sinking of the Ady Gil.

"The Australian Federal Police and the New Zealand police are investigating that sinking of the Ady Gil and the Australian and New Zealand governments should be pursuing with great vigour that investigation and charges against the whaling fleet," he said.

Activists target 'whale meat' transfer
TOBY STERLING
April 3, 2010/SMH

A ship unloaded seven containers, believed to contain meat from endangered fin whales bound for Japan on Friday, after Greenpeace activists chained themselves to its anchor line to prevent it leaving Rotterdam harbour.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Arja Helmig said the organisation had acted after receiving a credible tip that the ship NYK Orion was carrying meat, shipped by whalers from Iceland to a Japanese customer.

The 15 activists unchained themselves after the contested meat was unloaded.

NYK Lines spokesman Robin de Puij said the company is debating what to do next.

"The refrigerated containers which led to a Greenpeace protest on the NYK Orion in Rotterdam this morning have been investigated by Dutch authorities," he said in an emailed statement.

"As a result of this investigation, the cargo in the seven containers has been cleared as legal and duly authorised to be shipped."

Most nations oppose hunting the fin whale, but Iceland and Japan do not accept the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species' provisions on whales.

Commercial whaling is also banned by the International Whaling Commission, but Iceland, Japan and several other countries continue to hunt whales, exploiting exemptions for scientific research. Icelandic whalers are believed to have killed more than 100 fin whales in 2009. ...<cont>

Icelandic whalers are believed to have killed more than 100 fin whales in 2009

MsOlga wrote: And the cargo has been cleared, despite it being illegal to import whalemeat into the Netherlands, to be shipped on to Japanese customers.:

"The refrigerated containers which led to a Greenpeace protest on the NYK Orion in Rotterdam this morning have been investigated by Dutch authorities," he said in an emailed statement.

"As a result of this investigation, the cargo in the seven containers has been cleared as legal and duly authorised to be shipped."