Fukuda, Rudd agree whaling will not undermine bilateral ties

Thursday 12th June, 03:20 PM JST

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ihope2eatwhales at 11:09 AM JST - 12th June

imacat,

Whales in Antarctic are plentiful, and have good quality meat.
cleo at 11:14 AM JST - 12th June

the number of whales that you think is enough for whale meat

One is too many.
ihope2eatwhales at 11:18 AM JST - 12th June

cleo, please discuss with imacat, as he says it is fine to take whales for food from adjacent seas.
imacat at 11:22 AM JST - 12th June

Whales in Antarctic are plentiful, and have good quality meat.

So you think there aren't enough whales in the seas around Japan and the quality is poor... so that's why extra whales are needed from the Antarctic. Is that the position of the Japanese government?
ihope2eatwhales at 11:30 AM JST - 12th June

imacat,

I do not understand why you have not answered my simple and sincere question. Without your idea for what number of whales is enough, discussion will not be fruitful. Please explain your idea fully:

"The whales in the seas around Japan are more than enough to satisfy the tiny niche market for whale meat in Japan", by imacat.
Altria at 11:32 AM JST - 12th June

Probably about half the number they catch in the Antarctic, since they seem to be intent on foisting the unwanted excess on schoolkids and oldies.

So maybe 300-400 a year?
imacat at 11:43 AM JST - 12th June
According to Japanese government estimates in the North Pacific there are:
- 25,000+ minke whales
- 25,000+ Bryde's whales
- 70,000 sei whales
- 100,000+ sperm whales
So that's not enough to provide a few hundred whales a year? Please explain why it's not enough and why additional whales are needed from the Antarctic.

Also if (as the ICR spokesman) you're saying that the whales caught near Japan are inferior quality, I wonder what this merchant's reaction to your statements would be:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-kujiraya/10000013/

"日本近海物のミンク鯨、甘く、優しく、クセがなく美味しいミンク鯨肉です。"
ihope2eatwhales at 11:44 AM JST - 12th June

Altria,

Thank you for suggesting a number.

I think Japan has 300-400 whales available each year in so-called "adjacent seas", as already under existing arrangements Japan takes such a number.

However, if we have only 300-400 whales a year, our favourite whale meat will become more than twice as scarce as it is now, and even more expensive. This will mean that we who hope to eat whales will have less and less chance to do so, even more so than now.

If such circumstances are offered to us as a compromise solution from Australia, as one who hopes to eat whales, I would prefer the existing arrangements, rather than agree to such a proposal. I do not see the benefit for us.

We wish to have as much whale as possible. We would like to have more whale than we have now. If our wishes are considered, then some kind of compromise may be possible.
ihope2eatwhales at 11:51 AM JST - 12th June

imacat,

As I said, Antarctic whales are plentiful and have good quality meat. They are perfectly fine to supplement the whale we have from other places.
nutsagain at 05:58 PM JST - 12th June

Thanks Glenn Inwood aka 'debido' aka 'ihope2eatwhales'... As Japan's IWC represetative, you oughtta know, huh? Take the mask off jerk and get a life.
tclh at 11:10 PM JST - 12th June

If Minke whales population in Antartic is half of 760,000(estimation in 1990 by IWC)or about 300,000to 400,000; it will be quite sustainable if Japan harvest few hundreds of them a year,no problem.
imacat at 11:24 PM JST - 12th June

As I said, Antarctic whales are plentiful

As I have shown, whales on Japan's doorstep are plentiful

and have good quality meat.

presumably the Japanese government thinks that whales from seas around Japan are of good quality. That merchant I linked to above certainly thinks so. Are you telling him that his locally caught whale is of inferior quality? I think you should be very careful about what you are saying.

So you have plentiful and (presumably you think) good quality whales in the seas close to home. Please just explain... why do you need EXTRA whales from the Antarctic? It's a mystery.
ihope2eatwhales at 12:16 AM JST - 13th June

imacat, explained already at 11:44 AM JST - 12th June
Marlor at 06:31 AM JST - 13th June

Japan says that they only hunt whales to do research into whale stocks.

So, in that case, why should the quality of the meat or Japanese market factors even be a consideration?

And why do they need to do their "research" in the Australian Antarctic Territory anyway? It's not like they could legally fish there commercially... doing so would be a possible violation of both the Antarctic Treaty and Australia's sovereignty.
imacat at 01:57 AM JST - 17th June

imacat, explained already

That didn't explain it at all. I'm worried that perhaps you didn't understand the English in my posts.

Japan could take more whales from its adjacent seas. As I have shown, according to the Japanese government's own data(!), there are ample whales in the seas around Japan. Why is there a need to take EXTRA whales from the Antarctic? Are the whales in the seas adjacent to Japan not enough in quantity or quality or both? What's the reason? Please explain.