Is Japanese whaling actually endangering the species?

Question

Is Japanese whaling actually endangering the species?

Answer 1

DUUUHHH.....all of the other answers do have their individual points , BUT , the Practises of the Japanese Whaling Fleet is to:    be non-selective in slaughtering these Animals..!

they do not see a Whale and say: Oops , hold on a sec` , that`s a Fe-male...we better look for another Target

(have a guess what the Target would be?)..!

so , to waste one of the Pro-Creative members of the Species , in favour of the Other.....makes no sense to me!

the `Maths` (and Gender availability)  won`t add-up later on down the track.

May-be , as the Japanese are SO intelligent , they should concentrate on making Rice Dishes more appetising and Unique..?

Answer 2

According to Japan's "numbers" the whale populations they are killing are fine and stable.

The vast bulk of the world doesn't agree.  Though Japan could care less -- this is a society that views themselves as superior to the rest of the world and still denial on the atrocities they committed in World War II.

I think it's time we drop the economic hammer on Japan and boycott them across the board!

There is even a neat website (see link below) called "Boycott Japan" that has some detailed and interesting information on how to boycott products from Japan and get the anti-whaling message to these people.

I'm not an advocate of anyone going to extreme measures to enforce (no matter how right, just and humane) an act on another society.

In this case though I'm sick of the arrogance and disregard Japan displays to the world (be it historical revisionism in the atrocities they committed in WWII or whaling) that I think heavy handed measures should be taken.

I'd be thrilled to see the world's navies intercept these whaling ships, order the crews off, haul them into ports and scrap them.

The stance that this is a "cultural" aspect of Japan's society is a joke. These are the same people that used s*x slaves for the army as late as WWII.

Answer 3

The Japanese have an appetite for whale meat, and there are many hungry Japanese, while whales reproduce very slowly.

Some whale species were on the brink of extinction, and it was the moratorium on whale hunting which saved these species.

I believe the Japanese could get used to eating other sources of sea food, preferable type that are aqua cultured and not fished, that would help wild populations recover.

however, we are yet unable to grow whales for meat.

Answer 4

Commercial whaling has been the main threat to all large whales. In the past, whale products included margarine, gelatin, shoe polish, cosmetics, paint, soap, glue, corset frames, lubricant, candle wax, lighting oil, and of course, whale meat. Many whale oil products were gradually replaced with cheaper petroleum-based substitutes as they became available.

Both Norway and Japan kill whales for scientific purposes, although many observers believe that the true purpose of this continued whaling is commercial use. Whale meat now sells for about $300 per pound ($136 per kg) in Japan, and a recent DNA survey of whale meat for sale in Japan showed that 9 out of 16 samples, more than 50 percent, came from endangered whale species that are internationally protected.

Answer 5

no it is doing the world a great good, getting rid of those useless large blobs of blubber.

Answer 6

Short answer: YES.  

Prior to the international whaling ban whales were hunted almost to extinction.

The Japanese now hunt whales under the pretext of "research" and "scientific testing" but they kill many more than is realistically needed for science.. and they sell the meat to their citizens..  Their whaling, albeit much more limited than it was before, is still a cause of the decline of the # of whales in the open ocean.