Posted
02nd July 2001
US Populace Prefer Live Whales
A wide majority of American voters is opposed to commercial
whaling by Japan and Norway, according to a new poll released
today. Of 1,000 voters surveyed by phone, 83 percent were opposed
and 60 percent were strongly opposed to the killing of whales
by the world's most active whaling nations.
The poll was released to coincide with the upcoming annual meeting
of the International Whaling Commission in July and also in
advance of the first meeting between President George W. Bush
and newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
on June 30 in Washington, DC. New Zealand has a long-standing
strong policy of pushing for a South Pacific moratorium on all
whale hunting, but New Zealand and allies of the moratorium
have been let-down all along the way so far by notoriously underhand
tactics by Japanese and Norwegian commercial interests and politicians,
using their monetary wealth to literally buy out small countries
like those in the Carribean. In The USA through publicity surrounding
the poll and a set of full page ads appearing tomorrow in national
newspapers, the animal welfare group aims to urge President
Bush to get the Japanese leader to reconsider the controversial
whale hunt.
Despite
a worldwide ban on commercial whaling, Japan kills hundreds
of minke whales each year under the guise of what it calls "scientific
whaling." Japan has recently expanded its hunt to include endangered
Bryde's and sperm whales which are protected by international
conventions. Norway ignores the moratorium imposed by the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986. Both countries are currently
hunting whales, Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean and Norway
in the northern Atlantic. It seems clear that most Americans
favor protection of whales. "We are sponsoring a resolution
to express the sense of Congress that commercial and lethal
scientific whaling must come to an end," Republican Congressman
Miller said. "Their environment is becoming more marginal with
the pollution of oceans, their food supply is decreasing. We
think the numbers you have just heard come as a surprise to
people, to find 1,000 whales a year are being killed after an
international decision to ban commercial whaling by the IWC."
mericans surveyed want the federal government to take action
against the whalers.
The poll shows that 69 percent of those questioned support trade
sanctions by the United States against Japanese seafood products
to force Japan to stop whaling. A majority would be willing
to boycott products from Japan and Norway - 66 percent of men,
and 78 percent of the women polled support a boycott. For its
part, the Japanese government has introduced new regulations
aimed at strengthening laws against the possession, sale and
processing of illegally caught whales. As of July 1, the taking
of largewhales will be prohibited regardless of the fishing
gear and hunting methods employed with the exception of those
caught by the whaling fleet under permit, the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries said. Based on DNA analysis techniques
that allow the identification of individual animals, Japan has
been developing a registry system that can be used to monitor
the distribution and marketing of whale meat products. With
this system, Japanese authorities intend to ensure that all
whale meat sold in its markets is from legal sources.
The
thing is of course, `legal whale meat' is an oxymoron, a concept
conveniently unintelligible to Japanese commercial and political
interests. It is moves such as these that has Karen Steuer of
the International Fund for Animal Welfare warning that the world
is "poised to reintroduce commercial whaling." Japan and Iceland
are pushing for an international trade in whale meat in spite
of ban, she says. Japan has convinced more pro-whaling countries
to join the IWC, Steuer says, and she is hearing "far more heated
rhetoric, including open calls for the culling of whales, keeping
the populations down because of a very mistaken claim that whales
are eating commercial fish." Steuer believes the United States
plays a crucial role in keeping the commercial moratorium on
whaling in place.
The Clinton administration strongly supported the whale hunting
ban. The Bush administration, through a State Department public
statement, criticized Japan for expanding its program to kill
scores of internationally protected whales in the name of research.
"It is important to get very strong leadership from the U.S
and other countries such as South America and Europe," Steuer
said today. The showdown will be played out at the upcoming
International Whaling Commission meeting in London, England
July 23 to 27. ..
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