Thank to your help with Labour’s online petition for people who oppose the resumption of commercial whaling. The petition has been signed by more than one thousand people in less than 24 hours.
The vast majority of signatories are Kiwis. But a few people overseas have signed up – even people from countries which allow whaling.
It’s becoming clear that John Key’s moves to restart commercial whaling are seriously damaging New Zealand’s international image. I received this posting on my website from Kane Slater, a Canadian:
- Kane Slater Said,My trip to NZ has now been cancelled. I’ll spend my Canadian dollars in Australia.
Mr Key is supposedly the Tourism Minister as well as our Prime Minister. What will he say to our whale watching and conservation tourism operators in Kaikoura and around New Zealand?
If you don’t think NZ should be a pro-whaling nation please send John Key a strong message and sign the petition today. You can do it here on Red Alert by clicking this link.
Alternatively, sign the petition on my website at carter.org.nz/savethewhales.
Did you or any of NZ’s representatives ever enter into negotiations at the IWC over a compomise with Japan?
Will you at any stage address any of the arguments that Geoffrey Palmer has put forward?
Great job on the petition and yee haa!!! Whales good
Poachers bad
That is a bit rich coming from a Canadian in that they actually continue to kill whales in their country.
By showing such hypocrisy our beautiful is better off without their visit.
a Canadian in that they actually continue to kill whales in their country.
Seal Clubbing, anyone?
I second Neil,
Surly if you think it’s such a bad idea you should be addressing the arguments that Sir Geoffrey Palmer has put up?…
Also great article by John Armstrong
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10631021
Pentwig I agree. I also find it interesting that Sir Geoffrey Palmer is the one heading the proposal….
In terms of how best to stop the Japanese from whaling inside the Southern Ocean whale Sanctuary it’s quite simple: remove the scientific clause (and btw Labour, why didn’t this happen in the 2004 IWC review?) so that there is a complete ban on all whaling.
The only countries that should be allowed to carry out scientific research on whales are those who don’t kill them deliberately in the first place and then eat them.
The fact that they deliberately go for the likes of the Fin Whales – well, how on earth can John Key as our Tourism Minister even justify thinking about such a proposal?!
Geoffrey Palmer can only act under instructions from the Minister at the IWC. Key and McCully are the people behind this proposal to support commercial whaling.
If you care about saving our whales please sign the petition.
Hey Chris why dn’t you answer what Neil and Pentwig have to say?
Chris I have and have spread the word on Facebook.
It makes me so angry that someone even tries to justify something that will do so much harm all for the sake of money – first mining our National Parks now commercial whaling….what’s next – chopping down Kauri? Hunting Kiwi? I wouldn’t be surprised….once I’ve got my tax cuts, he’s a gonna….! :p
Anyone with any nous knows that only solution to stop whaling is through diplomatic channels.
Labour fought hard diplomatically for 9 years to no avail.
Key and McCully may get a breakthrough though I doubt it, but like Labour did before them they are trying and maybe with different tack.
This hyperbole is petty politics and grandstanding.
I agree, while I know that Labour is exaggerating the issue, I still believe that the best way to stop whaling is NOT by accepting that it is better that the Japanese kill some whales than kill as many as they are now, especially since they deliberately target the Fin whales. I want the IWC scientific clause removed. In saying that, they are pretty determined – think of the dolphins. It’s a hard one, but I think the Nat’s solution is the wrong one.
Offensive deleted Trevor
Save the whale… until last… eat the vegetables on your plate first.
Hopefully someone will devise a way to farm and kill whales humanely so that their survival as a species is not put at risk.
John Armstrong wrote an interesting article in yesterday’s NZ Herald:
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/story/politics/10631021/
Rebecca
You are correct. Killing no whales would be the preferred option.
Being realistic that is not going to occur at least in my lifetime – too many indigenous people need them to survive so
politics come into play. Think USA, Canada, Norway, Iceland,
Greenland, Russia and the Faroes. Those countries cannot deny
whales to their indigenous people.
Japan does not fall into that catagory, but whale meat has been part of their diet for centuries. Do we really have a right to deny their culture?
Imagine the uproar in this country if the Gov. suddenly decided to ban the eating of mutton birds – political suicide.
If a worldwide concord can be reached to establish a quota then that quota abates yearly, that must be a better solution than we have now. And of course better for the whale.
John Armstrong’s right to talk of realism.
So often we end up in a situation where the object of our good intentions end up worse off because the noisy and active few push for a solution which is ideologically pure but in the real world just doesn’t work.
I’d mention other examples, but Trev would just censor me for being off-topic…
George – well said
Pentwig yes you make a great point. I am mostly very anti-whaling however, there is a part of me that finds westerners arrogance where other cultures (in terms of how culture is more important than there’s) are concerned highly disturbing and unconscionable.
I am also inclined to ponder what the difference is between whaling and commercial fishing…
With the Japanese, while they have been whaling for centuries, it is just not sustainable so some moderation has to come into play. They don’t seem to want to accept any.
My biggest concern is say we manage to get them to agree that they will only kill x amount of whales per year, that they will just ignore the agreement like they do now. We need whales in our eco-system!
Epic fail from the Canadian. I wonder if he refuses to spend his Canadian dollars in Canada as well, or perhaps he thinks it’s ok for Canada to actively whale but not ok for NZ to seek realistic solutions to reducing whale kill numbers.
Sorry Australia, there’s another one headed your way.
So no reply to either question. Bulls-eye I think.
Labour is unwilling to engage with Palmer and is unwilling to respsond to a direct question as to whether they themselves were involved in any negotiations about a compromise with Japan.
I think that silence speaks volumes.
@ P hil LOL
@Rebecca 1.39 agreed.
Poor whales
Is whaling really that bad?
Surely under a sustainable quota system, the likes of Japan, etc would be able to go whaling while ensuring whale stocks are kept at an acceptable level. (and as long as it is done humanely)
I think we are too often associating whaling with the 19th century depection of it.
I personally think that the Japanese would ignore the quota. I’ve seen footage on how they kills those whales and believe me it would put you off your food for a week.
And the way they treat their dolphins
Thank for your feedback everyone.
Millsy, the Japanese whaling system is not sustainable and puts these magnificant animals at risk of extincition.
Please visit http://bit.ly/9uKEzP for a scientific critique of moves made by Japan in 2005 to justify their whale hunt. You’ll see that the representative from our Department of Conservation as well as the University of Auckland academic who wrote the paper noted “serious concerns about the impact of the proposed kills on protected stocks”.
I’d encourage everyone who care about saving endangered whales to sign Labour’s petition at http://www.carter.org.nz/savethewhales
Thanks for your support.
1) I am not advocating that Japan (or any other nation) just goes out and catch whatever whales they like as much as they like – as I said before, we have moved on from the 19th century – A strict quota system monitored by IWC officals would be acceptable in my books
2) I love watching whales as much as the next man, but I am being pragmatic here. We all admire 12 point stags, but we raise no objection to them being hunted for food.
3) I guess I just cannot get into being anti whaling as much as the people on here. Something about people coming first.
it’s interesting to compare Labour’s populist scare-mongering with how the Green Party have responded -
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2010/03/12/whale-for-sale/
They disagree with Palmer but at least they address the actual arguments and recognise that this is a complex issue – due primarily to the behaviour of Japan – that reasonable people might reasonably disagree on.
And of course there is none of this nonsense about how Palmer’s proposal would make us a “pro-whaling” country.
At least there are some MPs in parliament who care enough about whales not to descend into mere partisan polictiking.
Chris,
Regarding your claims that Japanese whaling puts whales at risk of extinction, the IWC homepage lists currently a paper from a Scientific Assessment Group that clearly states that proposed Antarctic minke whale catches by Japan would not harm the Antarctic minke whale stocks.
http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/future/IWC-M10-SWG6.pdf
I think you are just cherry picking when you point to your 2005 advice from the DOC representative. You probably told the DOC representative what to write?
The IWC Scientific Committee SAG is infinitely more credible.
Regards,
Malcolm