Krill - It's what's for dinner.
Posted on 07/05/2002 8:17:47 AM PDT by Rodney King
Japan minister blames whales for starving millions TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's farm minister, defending his country's controversial scientific whaling programme, has suggested the giant ocean mammals are taking food from the mouths of millions of starving people worldwide.
"I wonder whether you know that whales consume more than three to five times the maritime resources (that humans do), or in terms of fish, 300 million to 450 million tonnes of fish," Agriculture Minister Tsutomu Takebe told a news conference on Thursday.
"I also have to point out that on the earth there are 800 million human beings who are undernourished."
Takebe later qualified his remark, saying he was merely pointing out the necessity of exploiting natural resources on a sustainable basis and not arguing that whales were actually to blame for global hunger.
It was not the first time he has drawn fire -- or stirred bewilderment -- by citing a threat to world fisheries resources to argue in favour of whaling.
At the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting in May, he drew parallels with damage to life and limb caused by an rise in the number of African elephants trampling on people.
"People say the hunting of elephants is for ivory, but that is not true," domestic media quoted him as saying. "For those concerned, it's a matter of life and death."
Japan abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 in line with a global moratorium, but began what it calls scientific research whaling the following year.
It lobbied for a resumption of commercial whaling at the latest IWC gathering, but its quest was thwarted at a meeting distinguished by days of bitter battles.
Krill - It's what's for dinner.
"I also have to point out that on the earth there are 800 million human beings who are undernourished.
Using this logic, the huge whale population that existed before the start of commercial whaling must have been herbivorious as they would have eaten almost all the fish out of existance. This is typical liberal zero sum ecomomic theory at work in Japan.
Now, all the Japs have to do is bring charges in the new world court pointing out the the Eurppean crooks who are preventing whaling as a food source are committing a crime against humanity and the problem should get fixed PDQ. I honestly see this as a pretty straight forward issue and don't expect that there will be any politics or cultural issues associated with quickly bringing the Europeans to justice.
Starvation occurs due to liberal or corrupt politics interfering in food distribution. Production has rarely been a problem. The produce used to produce alcohol would itself feed the world if properly distributed.
So you are saying that all species of whale eat only krill? I believe this is incorrect.
I particularly recommend kujira sashi, that is, whale sashimi, with good company and a few tall, frosty, Kirin beers.
For all practical purposes, the statement was correct.
You sound like Asians are not confident in their length. Actually that's not the case.
==========================
A secretary for a foreign company was entertaining a wealthy mainland Chinese during lunch at a very expensive restaurant in uptown Peking.
The mainland Chinese was so enthralled by the beauty and presence of this secretary that he asked her to marry him. The secretary was startled, but remembered that her boss told her never to insult foreign dignitaries, so she decided to let him down easy.
"I'll only marry you under three conditions."
"Anything, anything," said the mainland Chinese.
"First, you must buy me a 14-karat gold wedding band with a 72 carat diamond, along with a 28 inch studded matching necklace for our engagement."
Without hesitation, the mainland Chinese picked up his cellular phone, called his personal accountant, told him the instructions, and said, "Yes, yes, I buy, I buy!"
The secretary thought that her first request was too easy, so she thought of a more difficult situation.
"Second, I want you to build me a 58-acre mansion in the richest part of the Poconos along with a 40 acre summer home in the sweetest vineyards of France."
The mainland Chinese picked up his phone, called his personal broker in Peking, then called another broker in France, and after his quick conversation, he said, "Yes, yes, I build, I build!"
The secretary was very startled, and knew she must think of a final request that would be impossible to live up to.
"Finally," she said. "I'll only marry you if you have a 10 inch penis."
A sad face befell the mainland Chinese, and he cupped his face in his hands. After weeping in his native language for a few minutes, the mainland Chinese slowly lifted his head and said, "Ok, ok, I cut, I cut!"
From The Institute of Cetacean Research, 2000 http://luna.pos.to/whale/sci_cri.html
" In the waters around Japan where catches in certain fisheries are declining, Japan's research catch of whales reveals that minke whales are eating at least 10 of the target species of these fisheries including Japanese anchovy, Pacific saury, walleye Pollock and others (Government of Japan, 2000)."
"Off the Pacific coast of Japan, Bryde's whales feed on krill, Japanese anchovy and chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus). In the waters around Bonin Islands, they fed on krill and lantern fish. In the East China Sea, they fed mainly on Japanese pilchard (Sardinops melanostictus), Japanese anchovy and horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) (Government of Japan, 2000)."
"Sperm whales feed not only on squids but their diet also includes commercially important fishes such as rockfishes, cods, Pacific saury, and Japanese pilchard."
"Data from Iceland indicates that of sixty-eight minke whale stomachs examined, 51% contained fish only, 22.1% krill only and 25.0% fish and krill together (Sigurjonsson et al., 2000)."
Minke, Bryde's, and Sperm are the three species "that the Japanese consider huntable".
Did you notice the question mark at the end of my statement? I was only asking if that is what you were saying. No need to get nasty about it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.