The influence of Japan's killing Antarctic whales on the world

Japan's whaling in the name of science is a contempt for international pressure.

Why are Japanese obsessed with whales?

Japanese people dare to take the world by storm, but they have a soft spot for whales, which is closely related to their food culture and commercial interests. Secondly, Japan "unexpectedly" also proposed to expand whaling. Her reasons are: first, whales eat a lot, and excessive protection may endanger the survival of other smaller fish, thus destroying the marine ecological balance; Second, the number of cetaceans is rising. But in fact, these two points are untenable and have been strongly refuted by scientists and environmentalists.

Japan: Proud of Whale-eating Culture

Whale meat is rare, protein.

Mr. Osuke's grandfather is a fisherman, so he has many opportunities to eat whale meat. In an interview with reporters, he said that Japan is an island country surrounded by the sea. Before the habit of eating beef spread to Japan, there were few whales in protein. In terms of eating habits, the Japanese do not regard whales as fish, but treat them like pork and beef. After all, whales are mammals. Moreover, unlike pork and beef, whale meat is extremely low in fat and will not have allergic reactions after eating. It is one of the foods for strengthening the body.

At the same time, Mr. Liu, who was interviewed, said that whales are very expensive and are no longer a common dish in Japanese families. However, when he was in middle school, he ate whales at school lunch. The whale is a precious protein, and he will eat it again if he has the chance.

Mr. Otsuka also said that personally, as long as it does not lead to the extinction of fish species, proper fishing is necessary. At present, some international regulations are too one-sided and extreme, and the fishing area is shrinking year by year, even reaching an excessive level.

Whale-eating culture has a long history

Professor Junichiro Koizumi of Tokyo Agricultural University is the chairman of the Whale Eating Culture Protection Association. On July 3, 2004, he held a whale eating seminar at Showa Women's University in Tokyo. After the meeting, he invited 1500 people to taste whale rice and whale soup. President Koizumi said that unlike pigs and cows, whales are protein that Japanese people can easily ingest. Although it is also a mammal, it is not easy to accumulate fat and there is no allergic reaction after eating it. Japan began to eat whales in the middle of the Edo period, and whale bones are still used in Taigu. Japanese people thank whales for bringing food, and whale cemeteries or worship towers can be seen everywhere. When mad cow disease and bird flu threatened people's lives, the organization called for returning to the traditional Japanese diet and eating fish and whales. But one thing is puzzling, why the Japanese like to kill gods to reward their stomachs!

A delegate said that the earth was destroyed by beef civilization. There are/kloc-0.6 billion cows in the world. If a cow eats 500 kilograms of pasture, the soil will become hard, the soil and water can't be maintained, and burping will also cause carbon dioxide problems.

The Japan Whaling Association claims that "whaling is an inseparable part of Japanese history and culture, and whaling is for human consumption. The practice of prohibiting commercial whaling is robbing an important part of Japanese culture and tradition. " People all over the world should respect this whaling culture in Japan. Japanese officials are even more naked. They say that Americans ask the Japanese to stop whaling, just as Indians ask Americans to stop eating steak.

Ordinary Japanese also have an unusual complex about eating whale meat. In Japanese whale restaurants, mammalian whales are regarded as a kind of "fish" and processed by various cooking methods, such as sashimi, deep-frying, chafing dish and steaming. The skin and fat of whales are also specially cooked. Although Japan suspended whaling due to the destruction of whaling ships in World War II, in order to solve the problem of food shortage after the war, the Japanese rediscovered their dependence on these marine mammals. Up to now, there are still a small number of whaling activities in the four places: Netwalk in Hokkaido, Japan, Yokogawa in Miyagi Prefecture, Hotan in Chiba, Central China, and Taidi in Goshan, South China. In these places, men who are good at whaling become heroes in girls' hearts. There are various whale museums, monuments and archives. Therefore, whales have an irreplaceable position in the eyes of the Japanese.

This history has influenced the lives of several generations of Japanese. A 60-year-old director of the Japan Whaling Research Institute once told reporters that more than 40 years ago, he was loved by his wife because he often participated in whaling at sea. To commemorate this life, he named his son and daughter Taiping and Yoko respectively. Together, they are the Pacific Ocean. He deeply regrets that commercial whaling is now banned and the number of whaling has been greatly reduced. A 50-year-old company employee said that whale meat restaurants used to abound, but now it is hard to find, and whale meat has become a high-end food. Compared with the price that was cheaper than rice before, he felt a little funny. Although he is not inseparable from whale meat for every meal, he has been fasting for a long time and still misses the fresh and tender taste of whale meat similar to beef.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Japan Whaling Association, except for 10% people who don't want to comment, nearly 60% people think that eating whale meat is closely related to Japanese food culture and should be preserved.

Whaling has commercial significance.

In April, 20001year, the Japanese whaling fleet returned with 440 minke whales after whaling in Antarctic waters for "scientific research". As the whaling ship sailed to the port, the Japan Whaling Association also launched a new promotion activity-"Save the whales, eat whales!" -encourage the whole people to eat whale meat, support whaling, and use propaganda vehicles to tour the country and play recordings calling on people to eat whale meat to revitalize Japan's international commercial whaling industry.

On July 23rd, 2004, Japan Whale Research Institute sold 1922.8 tons of whale meat (equivalent to 440 mink whales) obtained in 17 Antarctic whale survey.

The institute pointed out that the sale was divided into four parts, 488.9 tons for public welfare, 573.4 tons for general market circulation and 849.5 tons for processing, with special specifications 1 1 ton. Sales revenue eventually became the fund for whale investigation. Whales currently on sale are mainly meat and skin. According to the market price, the lean meat of whale tail is as high as 6000 yen per kilogram, the ordinary lean meat is 2600 yen, and the fine skin is 3300 yen per kilogram.

Because of the huge consumer market, in the eyes of Japanese businessmen, the great pressure from the international community only adds a little trouble to them. Most of their stalls selling whale meat are arranged in the corner of the market. There are huge whale balloons floating in front of the fish stalls with the slogan "Protect our seafood culture" printed on them.

Whaling is to protect fish.

At present, almost all countries in Europe and America stand on the standpoint of anti-whaling and advocate the protection of whales. Japan thinks this is sophistry. Whaling began in Europe and America, and their purpose of whaling was to refine oil. When oil and other oils meet the demand and whaling cannot become an industry, whaling in Europe and America will naturally disappear. Whaling in Japan is mainly carnivorous, and the use of whales is extreme. As an industry, whales are still very prosperous in Japan. As European countries, Iceland, Norway and Denmark also eat whale meat. Japan insists that their whaling is based on scientific investigation and rational utilization.

For a long time, the focus of debate between whaling countries and anti-whaling countries has been the extinction of whales. In response to the voice of environmentalists, Japan lashed out at most members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for their lack of whaling experience and scientific research. The first reason for Japan is that whales eat a lot, and excessive protection may endanger the survival of other smaller fish, thus destroying the marine ecological balance; Second, the number of cetaceans is rising. Japan moved out some data, pointing out that the total number of minke whales caught in Japan has increased by nearly 10 times compared with the beginning of modern whaling, and most whale species have increased. On the other hand, Japan also stressed that the fishing amount in Japan's coastal areas has declined in recent years, while saury and squid are the prey of dolphins and whales, and whales prey on 300 million to 500 million tons of fish, which is three to six times the fishery consumption of the world population. If this trend continues, whales may even rob people of food and destroy the ecological balance. It is the support of this theory that makes Japanese whaling ships swim freely in the ocean in the name of scientific investigation.

Confrontation with each other: human beings cannot kill other creatures indiscriminately because of practical needs.

Japan's whaling behavior has aroused the condemnation of the international community. During the Clinton period, the United States issued a statement to cancel Japan's right to fish in American waters in the future. The US government also cancelled the normal bilateral fishery negotiations between the US and Japan. 18 Members of the United States Congress jointly announced a congressional resolution. The resolution said that it resolutely opposes the Japanese government's attempt to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council until Japan's whaling meets the requirements of the International Whaling Commission and stops the commercial activities of whale meat trade. The Australian government issued a statement stating that it will never stand idly by and will resolutely crack down on whale overfishing. Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, publicly expressed her support for the campaign to ban Japanese whaling. The Foreign Minister of New Zealand once said, "Our position on whaling is very clear. New Zealand will continue to promote the campaign to end whaling within the International Whaling Association. "

Whale watching tour

There are more commercial benefits than eating.

Experts pointed out that the commercial ornamental value of live whales is much higher than that of dead whales. Recently, the International Fund for the Protection of Animals also said that the so-called "scientific whaling" in Japan is to cover up commercial purposes.

Michael McIntyre, Asia-Pacific Director of the International Fund for the Protection of Animals, said that the annual commercial value of whale watching in the world reached $654.38 billion. Among them, whale watching tourism in New Zealand can earn 1. 1 billion dollars every year, attracting more than 425,000 tourists. This tourism industry benefits 87 countries and regions, with as many as 9 million people. McIntyre said: "We have now realized that living whales are more valuable than dead whales." Moreover, some analysts pointed out that whaling is of little help to the Japanese economy. It is understood that the development concept of whale industry can drive a large number of related industries, such as tourism, catering, accommodation education, related products, marine research, etc., which will be driven by the development of whale watching industry. Not only that, the development of whale watching industry has given whales a safe and benign living space, but also brought a steady stream of ecological resources to mankind.

In Japan, contrary to the government's claim that its citizens enthusiastically support whaling, some media surveys show that the actual situation is quite different from the high demand for whale meat advocated by the government. The vast majority of Japanese citizens have either never eaten whale meat or haven't eaten it for a long time. But in order to change people's tastes, the Japanese government has also come up with a new publicity campaign to appeal to the public to eat whale meat.

The cetacean population is still facing extinction crisis.

Whales are the largest mammals in the world. In the 1960s, it was almost extinct due to overfishing. In recent years, the number of some species, including sperm whales, has recovered, and scientists believe that it has reached the number that can be killed. Japan also insists that the whale population is rising. Others, citing the bloody whaling history as evidence, think that because the whaling industry is difficult to be effectively controlled, whales will be over-hunted again if the "no killing1whales under 986" regulation is abolished. And because whales are highly migratory animals, it is difficult to accurately investigate their numbers, and the prospects are not optimistic.

Most large whales gather in the waters near Antarctica. In the 1980s, there were about 760,000 whales in the South Pacific. With the intensification of hunting, the number of whales has decreased sharply. The blue whale is the favorite hunting target of whalers, but after less than 100 years of unrestrained hunting, 99% of the blue whales have been killed.

North Atlantic right whale is the rarest whale species in the world, with less than 300 whales, and it is expected to be extinct within 200 years.

In just one year, Japan killed more than 500 minke whales and 440 sperm whales. Norway plans to kill 655 minke whales this year.

International organizations opposed to whaling believe that the establishment of whale sanctuaries can provide more protection for whales whose habitats and breeding grounds are threatened. Humans can't kill and use all other creatures because of practical needs.