Activists in 25 cities protest Japan's dolphin and porpoise cull

Thursday 04th September, 06:23 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 43 Total Comments Show All

ColAmerica at 05:21 PM JST - 4th September

I agree with Taiko666; What is wrong with many who come to livein Japan?

There is no excuse to carry on with tis barbaric practise. Where are the japanese protesters? Why is there apathy in Japan, to whale hunting? Why do foreigners follow the Japanese sheep mentality and fail to find this repulsive?

My wife did not know about thsi hunt, until she saw the articel on BBC, she and her mother were in tears, they were ignorant re the hunt.

Will the demos be shown on NHK and other Japanese tv news, no, because it is censored, but Japanophiles rose colored specs don`t let them see that.
Kameleon at 06:36 PM JST - 4th September

No this kind of thing won't be televised in Japan on prime-time TV, possibly on an obscure but late show... Japan censors - like China - fearing the people knowing the truth and how they will react.
ihope2eatwhales at 06:41 PM JST - 4th September

bushlover,

Dolphin and porpoise are both small species. 20,000 is not so much meat. 20,000 sardines is even less. It is better to take more whales instead, but the Japanese government is too weak and slow to reopen the normal whale fisheries.

In fact, in government report on porpoise status, there is the statements that recently baleen whale supply increases and demand has shifted from porpoise to baleen whale, and JAS law revision is thought a reason as well. The fishermen adjust their catch to maintain a price. I suppose porpoise catch must decrease more once Japan has more whale meat.

ColAmerica,

Normal Japanese people know that the foreigners are killing millions of animals, and they are hypocrites to criticise the killing of animals by Japanese. So, such demo is not serious news to Japanese, it is the child's act.

It is good that foreign people come to Japan and learn the common sense about animals.
bushlover at 06:57 PM JST - 4th September

ihope2eatwhales, thanks for that info. but really I hope they take more whales and leave the dolphins alone. I'm sure it tastes good too but so would my mother's cat if I were starving. Whales on the other hand I agree with. Dolphins are too cute for me to want to eat them. But if people want to eat them I won't put down that minority like the self righteous crowd that come here telling the Japanese how to conform to their standards.
ihope2eatwhales at 07:22 PM JST - 4th September

bushlover,

In some places in Japan dolphin is the traditional food for them.

All,

I found numbers of dolphin and porpoises from Japanese government funded institute.

http://kokushi.job.affrc.go.jp/H19/H19/H19_45.pdf

See page 5. The porpoises are many in number, by the 2007 figure. 170,000. 2006 catch was about 4% for the RIKUZEN porpoise, this is too high probably. The story says Japanese government lowered a quota for porpoises in 2007, this must be the same one. But the other porpoise species, ISHI porpoise, is also about 170,000. 2006 catch was less than 2% of this. It is safe level. It is the example of precise management by Japanese government.

Also, it is noted that management by Japanese government is done with the concept of PBR (Potential Biological Removal, Wade 1998). Even though Japan use the foreign scientist method of management, it is strange that other foreigners complain to Japan about "extinction"? People who complain must learn these facts.
BBBBB at 08:41 PM JST - 4th September

So dolphins and porpoises are like humans... Shouldn't they avoid going back to Taiji agian if they have some intelligence????
amakuri at 09:45 PM JST - 4th September

ihope2eatwhales,

Were you aware that after WWII when Japan was in tatters and there was barely a thing to eat, that your people were encouraged to eat whales and dolphins because there was nothing else to eat? Before that, only a very small part of the population ate it as their custom.
Also, are Japanese people aware of how toxic whale and dolphin meat is with it's high mercury content? I read of a local government in Japan that removed it from the school lunch menu due to this. Why is the Japanese media so oppressive with the truth? Might as well be called communist.

Food for thought (excuse the pun).
Patrick Smash at 11:18 PM JST - 4th September

This may not be true, but I have heard that a lot of dolphin and porpoise meat is sold as sea chicken. Foreigners think sea chicken is always tuna, but I heard tuna is always tuna, and sea chicken can be quite a few things. Maybe someone knows for sure. I'd be interested to get the truth on this.

Personally I think hunting whale near Japan is okay, but what happens in Taiji is quite appalling. People are right to protest, peacefully of course.
OssanULTRA at 12:10 AM JST - 5th September

"Hey, I thought "thugs" and "monsters" was kind of going easy? What are your adjectives of choice? Protectors of local culture? Clue me in..."

How about "porpoise fishermen"? Wouldn't that be undeniably accurate and objective?
ColAmerica at 12:35 AM JST - 5th September

Ah,OssanULTRA, once a Japanophile always one, i guess. The massacres of dolphins and porpoise are unforgiveable. How would you feel if another Asian country was doing this? No examples, please this is about beautifull Japan.

Glad to see other countries demonstrating against these animal, torturers, murderers. Well done demonstrators in Britain, hope it makes the news there.
KitsuneYoukai at 04:27 AM JST - 5th September

So what about China's delicacies. Hey! even though i don't agree with it, this country is literally surrounded by ocean so if they early on didn't develop any spiritual attachment to dolphins like other cultures but instead hunt them it is no wonder that it continues today. I don't know how this affects or not their economy or if the demand is high or what else they use it for but it would be a good idea to change. I won't call them muderers though for being higher on the food chain.
ihope2eatwhales at 12:08 PM JST - 5th September

The dolphin and porpoise are the different species. I suppose few persons eat dolphin so much that it becomes the big problem. The government report shows it is changing, fishermen are also adjusting their catch down as demand shifts from dolphin and porpoises to baleen whales.
OssanULTRA at 07:20 AM JST - 6th September

"ColAmerica at 12:35 AM JST - 5th September Ah,OssanULTRA, once a Japanophile always one, i guess. The massacres of dolphins and porpoise are unforgiveable. How would you feel if another Asian country was doing this? No examples, please this is about beautifull Japan."

Totally OT.
ColAmerica at 09:59 AM JST - 7th September

OssanULTRA; Notice you complain about my post being ot, instead of responding.

This cull is butchery, and the whole world should be made aware of it.

The suffering of the dolphins and porpoise is well documented, that is why the hunters try to hide the suffering from "outside" observers.
OssanULTRA at 11:51 AM JST - 7th September

Just because we can kill animals at will, doesn`t mean it is right >morally. The suffering of the dolphins and porpoise is well documented, >that is why the hunters try to hide the suffering from "outside" >observers.

No, they hide it to avoid interference from animal rights fanatics.