Why do people catch blue whales?

whales are a kind of protected animals in the world, because they are endangered.

whales are extinct because they have too much value for people to use.

blubber can be used to make soap, candles and lipstick. Whale whiskers can be made into many things, such as brushes, women's bras, and umbrella ribs. Eating whale meat is an important part of the Japanese diet. Some Japanese people say: "Most of the animal protein that Japanese people ingest comes from whale meat instead of beef."

In recent 1 years, due to the prohibition of commercial whaling by the international community, the supply of whale meat in Japan has been greatly reduced, and the price of whale meat has been soaring. One kilogram of whale meat can be sold for 9 ~ 1 dollars in Japan.

international fund for animal welfare's regular DNA tests in Japan show that all the whale meat sold in Japan is "protected". Because of the huge consumer market, in the eyes of Japanese businessmen, the great pressure from the international community has only added a little trouble to them.

Japanese businessmen still feel the strong pressure of world public opinion. Most of their stalls selling whale meat are arranged in the corner of the market, and there are huge whale balloons floating in front of the fish stalls with the slogan "Protect our seafood culture" printed on them. Ironically, every time Japan goes out to sea to hunt whales, the first ship comes from a scientific research institution such as a laboratory, but it is followed by a commercial whaling ship with advanced equipment. They are secretly carrying out commercial whaling under the guise of "scientific" whaling.

When the Convention against Whaling came into effect in 1986, Japan once announced that it would give up whaling. However, in 1987, while promising not to oppose the convention, Japan bypassed the international rules in the name of "scientific research" and re-launched the whaling ship to the sea. In 1994, the International Whaling Organization announced the establishment of the "Southern Marine Whale Sanctuary", and all whales in the area were protected by international law. Japan's demand for whaling was refuted.

Many countries have condemned the killing of whales

Before a Japanese whaling fleet left Hong Kong this year, US President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Secretary of State Albright respectively telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro, demanding that Japan give up the operation. But the answer is that Japan has no intention to stop whaling at present.

On September 13th this year, Clinton issued a statement to cancel Japan's right to fish in American waters in the future, and stressed that the United States would impose economic sanctions on Japan if it did not stop whaling. The U.S. government also canceled the normal bilateral fishery negotiations between the United States and Japan, boycotted two environmental protection meetings held in Japan, and opposed Japan's hosting of next year's meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Eighteen members of the United States Congress jointly announced a congressional resolution. The resolution said that the Japanese government's attempt to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council was resolutely opposed until the Japanese whaling operation met the requirements of the International Whaling Commission and stopped the commercial activities of whale meat trade.

Japan demanded to kill more than 4 whales in the Antarctic for "scientific purposes". This is the third consecutive year that Japan has made a similar request to the World Whale Conservation Committee. Moreover, when Japan hunts whales in this water area, there are always some companies' ships that process the captured whales on board and then transport them to the Japanese and Korean markets. When the Japanese whaling fleet hunts or slaughters whales, they always erect a huge placard on their ships, which reads: Taking whale tissue samples.

In October this year, the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a communique accusing Japan of killing 4 whales in the Antarctic reserve every year, calling on it to immediately stop whaling in the sea area.

The Australian government has issued a statement pointing out that Japan and Norway are now actively trying to overturn the international convention prohibiting overfishing of whales, which should be highly valued by all countries. The Australian government will never stand idly by, and they will fight resolutely at the international conference on endangered species in Nairobi.

In August this year, Mexican ecological protection organizations gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Mexico to protest against Japanese whaling in the North Pacific. Demonstrators attending the rally hung 3 children's paintings from all over Mexico on the iron railings of the Japanese Embassy, all of which called for the protection of endangered whales.

Helen Clark, 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. "

Japan's defense

Facing the criticism from all over the world, Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department once pointed out in a speech that "the United States, Britain, New Zealand and other countries criticized Japanese whales because of some extreme pressure from non-governmental environmental organizations, and simply ignored scientific truth and international laws."

Japanese officials also claimed that Americans asked the Japanese to stop whaling just as Indians asked Americans to stop eating steak. "The open sale of whale meat in the market also meets the requirements of international conventions, that is, to ensure that resources will not be wasted. This is not commercial whaling at all. "

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.

In view of the Australian and New Zealand governments' hope that the International Whaling Association will declare the whole South Pacific Ocean a whale sanctuary, the Japanese distributed brochures in Australia, saying that banning the killing and eating of whales pushed the long-standing Japanese tradition to extinction.

In September this year, the Japanese whaling fleet was forced to stop hunting and return to China, so as to avoid further aggravation of the "whale friction" between Japan and the United States. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese whaling ship caught 88 whales this time and failed to complete its plan to kill 16 whales. If Washington adopts trade sanctions against Japan, the pearls produced in Japan and the processed edible seafood will be restricted.

Why should whales be protected

Most large whales gather in the waters near Antarctica. In the 198s, there were about 76, whales in the South Pacific. With the intensification of hunting, the number of whales decreased sharply. The blue whale is the favorite hunting target of whalers, but after less than 1 years of unrestrained hunting, 99% of the blue whales have been killed.

The North Atlantic right whale is the rarest whale species in the world, with a population of less than 3, which is expected to be extinct in 2.

After the publication of the Global Convention for the Prohibition of Whaling in 1986, the number of whales killed dropped from 22, to 2,7. However, only one year later, due to the breach of contract by Japan and other countries, whales once again faced a lot of bad luck of being killed. Last year, Japan hunted more than 5 minke whales and 44 sperm whales. Norway plans to kill 655 minke whales this year. Minke whales are the smallest in the whale family. Adult minke whales are 1 meters long.

Japan is one of the most developed countries in the world. In Japan, the activities of advocating whale killing are far more energetic than the voices of opposition.

International organizations opposed to whaling believe that the establishment of whale sanctuary 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. According to another opinion, from the perspective of biological food chain, whales are huge marine animals with amazing food intake, and an adult whale consumes an average of about 3 tons of small fish and shrimp every day. Instead of letting the increased number of whales compete with humans for fish and shrimp, it is better to slaughter some of them and have a good meal.

Because there is no global uniform international law, the international community can't effectively control commercial whaling at present. Faced with the huge commercial interests of the whaling industry, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no foul. Promulgating strict international laws and regulations is an urgent task to ensure the reasonable killing of whales.

At present, the International Whaling Commission has 4 members, and developed countries such as Britain, the United States, Switzerland and France, as well as Brazil and Chile resolutely condemn whaling. Whaling countries represented by Japan and Norway are at a disadvantage, but their activities are huge, and their efforts to advocate no fishing are often offset by opposition.