I am the worst environmentalist ever, pt. 1It's not easy being green, especially when you believe in things that are so far from green that they're somewhere in the gamma ray end of the spectrum. Here is the first in a series on my thoughts about environmental issues that people either make too much noise about or not enough. First up, what I think about whaling.
How the hell could I be pro whaling? I've never eaten whale meat, and I don't intend to. I can count on one hand the number of whales I've seen, and on no hands the number of whales that have done me wrong. However, just because something doesn't affect me nor ever will, doesn't mean that I shouldn't care about it.
Of course, whaling does affect people. I'm not the first to realise this, in fact a group of like minded countries got together and formed the International Whaling Commission in the late 1940s with the intention of developing a global whaling industry in a sustainable manner. So, how's that industry going? Officially, it's dead. Unofficially, countries have either ignored the IWC or made excuses to continue whaling. The IWC has put a ban on commercial whaling for the foreseeable future. Is that healthy? I don't think so.
Whaling should not be allowed in any sanctuary, nor should the whaling of even slightly endangered whale species be allowed. How would that be policed? I'd imagine in much the same way that most things are regulated. Whaling ships would be checked at ports and sanctuaries would be patrolled on IWC authority, which should be funded by IWC member countries with commercial whaling interests. This isn't as hard to do as one would think, after all whales are the size of houses so you won't be seeing anyone on this week's Border Security trying to smuggle in a whale carcass (unless he calls it his Internet bride).
Japan operates on a similar model already. Japanese vessels hunt mostly Minke (in sustainable supply) and Bryde's (unevalutated) whales and they stay clear of sanctuaries. So why change the status quo?
There's two reasons. Firstly, they do it all for free, and secondly, they lie about the reasons for doing it. Everyone knows that the Japanese excuse of whaling for scientific research is a sham, it's a convenient path through an ill thought through loophole in the IWC charter. The sum total of their research is the discovery that "whales eat fish", oh, and a lot of market-ready whale meat.
Commercial whaling (through the scientific research façade) is happening despite bans, angry diplomatic language and forceful environmentalist action. Will whaling ever stop? No. Get that idea out of your head. If a country wants to whale, they should be allowed to do so in a sustainable and accountable way, and get charged phat sums of money for the privilege. That money should be used for regulating and policing the industry, or as a deterrent like how cigarette taxes pay for anti-smoking education.
Whaling countries have always had the option to leave the IWC and therefore do all the commercial whaling, or even game hunting, they like. Why have most of them stayed? Good manners? Threat of sanctions? No country (well, maybe Australia) would place an embargo on any other country just because they allow commercial whaling. No, they stay because no-one, not even whaling countries, hate whales. They want whales preserved as much as anyone, it's good for their business and it's good for their culture.
The "no commercial whaling at any cost" viewpoint of well meaning countries like Australia has harmful consequences, like unchecked harvesting through the above mentioned loophole, and the shameless bribing of IWC member countries that couldn't give a fuck into suddenly seeing the pro-whaling point of view.
This stupid and unworkable stance is doing real harm. Norway hunts commercially, and has done legally for the last 15 years because it has quite rightly objected to commercial bans. Japan is making noises that it will soon ignore the sanctuaries. Canada left the IWC decades ago and has no intention of returning. The IWC has ignored its own scientists' recommendation to set commercial quotas. This shit has to stop. Australia loves whales, and that's fine, but it shouldn't force its love on to other countries.
Here's a happy whale I made out of ascii.
(;¯¯*¯¯\.v
Sort of squint a bit.
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<DJ-Napkin> "whales eat fish"
<DJ-Napkin> LMFAO
(silpheed) well they do
(silpheed) thank god science can reveal that to us all
<DJ-Napkin> they eat krill i thought
(silpheed) sif live on krill
(silpheed) http://whale.wheelock.edu/archives/ask02/0037.html
<DJ-Napkin> krill <> fish
<DJ-Napkin> you've won this battle silpheed, damn you *shakes fist*
* silpheed goes and takes a winner's leak
The problem here is that you think you can just get all the member countries to agree on set quotas for what's sustainable when and then follow them. The IWC might be ignoring their own scientists, but i'm sure that's only in response to the Japanese ignoring everyone and doing whatever the hell they like. If you think they're concern for future stocks overrules their immediate greed, then you're more of an optimist than i thought. Business people don't think sustainably - it's about greater profit margin and shareholder return every fiscal year than the last. If the Japanese are not toeing the line now, they're not going to if restrictions are lifted and it's made even easier for them. It's like the drug debate - legalizing makes logical sense, with the promise of greater control, but in reality probably very little would change as a black market already exists.
Added to their scientifically deduced knowledge that whales eat fish, is that if you cannon a bloody great spear with an explosive head into one, it will bleed a lot and thrash about, and probably require a few more shots just to get it on board, and even then probably die a slow, agonising death whilst being hacked up, sometimes in front of it's family members. Just fucking eat something like cow which you can not only breed for the purpose specifically, but also easily cordon off and bolt-gun in the head in one civilized action. Most Japanese people as i understand it, don't even like or want to eat whale and a lot of it goes to waste, which just makes the situation more insane. Also, I think it's become a bit of a stubborn pissing contest between countries now, it's not even about the whales anymore.
P.S. I liked the asterisk blow-hole. Also mesmerised by djnapkin's new avatar.
Allow me to HARPOON one of those points. The Japanese have every right to leave the IWC and do all the hunting they like, as Canada has done. I can't think of any reason why they have stayed, except maybe to help prevent other IWC nations from catching Australia's moralist virus. Maybe they still believe that the IWC is worth it, after all, it was established to develop a whaling industry, not prevent one. If I were Japan, I would have left when the ban was put in place. I agree that the Japanese are acting like Tony Soprano, but Tony's an effective guy. I'm sorry, I have to side with the dark side on this one.
You're right about comparing whaling to the drug debate, I couldn't think of a way to put it into words without me sounding pro-drugs.
p.s. stick around for more than 5 minutes so I can make you an author.
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