Editorial: Compromise no way to save the whales
The Nelson Mail
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Editorial
OPINION: The international politics of whaling have long been a shameful business, riven as they are with vote-buying, posturing, agreements being undermined, and countries reduced to openly insulting each other.
To most New Zealanders such shenanigans are meaningless and seem designed to deflect attention from the point that in this day and age, killing whales for any reason is wrong and barbaric.
The latest twist in the soap opera known as the International Whaling Commission could be seen as a long-awaited deal-breaker, or simply the fiasco running true to form. Either way, it is bound to go down badly in this country. After years of New Zealand taking a principled stand that all whaling is bad, it is central to negotiations for a compromise – to let whaling continue, but at a reducing rate over the years ahead, while closing off the various loopholes which let countries sidestep the global ban on the practice. New Zealand's representative to the IWC, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, argues that without this agreement, the whole diplomatic framework intended to control international whaling could blow apart.
Sir Geoffrey may well be right. But the first problem with his line is that the diplomatic approach lost its credibility years ago. More troubling to many New Zealanders will be the sense that a country which has long prided itself on standing firm on its principles, even in the face of intense diplomatic pressure, could be considering a course which will be widely seen as a climb-down. It is almost galling that it will apparently be left to Australia to maintain the moral stance, with its continued insistence that all whaling must stop and its preparedness to take a case against Japan's whaling programme to the International Court of Justice. Such an approach may not stop the whaling fleet, but it certainly keeps the issue embarrassingly prominent for the whaling nations.
Anti-whaling activists and the Government's political opponents have been quick to put the boot in, with Labour announcing that "New Zealand is now a pro-whaling country", a mischievous sort of line. But Foreign Minister Murray McCully's insistence that any compromise deal would have to be "very attractive" to get this country's support is unconvincing if not disingenuous. He will know that New Zealanders will want no part of a deal that legitimises the hunting of whales. Yet Sir Geoffrey's endeavours towards a deal within the IWC have obviously happened under the Government's firm direction.
Mr McCully and his colleagues may genuinely believe that a compromise, as unpalatable as it may be, is the only way to finally resolve an issue that has become an enormous and wasteful distraction. They may more cynically calculate that the Government can fend off the fall-out. But if a domestic backlash does not bother them, they should at least reflect on the signal New Zealand will be seen to be sending about its commitment to marine conservation and environmental guardianship.
Neither of the courses currently open to New Zealand is going to save the whales; but one of them would look like we at least want to try.
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@PJ.
I think you're confusing logic with something else. You're ascribing human characteristics to whales to argue that eating whales is tantamount to cannibalism. That is not only patently ridiculous in its own right, but also based on highly suspicious "facts". I wonder how you can assert that some animals possess something as subtle and vaguely defined as "consiousness", yet others do not? No doubt you've reached that view with the full rigour of empirical analysis - or a couple of cones.
You're also exaggerating greatly about the humanity of whaling and you know it. On the one hand we have the farming industry that raises hundreds of thousands of animals in "controlled" conditions on a terminal trajectory for inevitably, premature death. On the other hand we have a wild population of whales, a slim proportion of which are sustainably harvested. When viewed objectively, the aggregate suffering of farm animals far outweighs that of whales.
Anyway, now that I'm off my high horse, will you please dismount yours?
@ Si
Of course he took the words out of your mouth - The ignorant don't have many words... And being forced fed just fattens you for slaughter - you are mammal after all and therefor "fit for the table".
I'm far from being a tree-hugger - but some basic biology shows just how silly your arguement is.
@ Tom
Reasons why Whaling is wrong
1. They have self-consciousness - not just sentience. Only Humans, Chimps, Gorillas, Dolphins and Whales have reached this point. Only two species are known to have names for other members of their species - Humans and Whales. They communicate at a level that is far more than "fish at 3 o'clock"! If it's OK to hunt Whales and eat them - why - to use cold hard logic - is it NOT OK to farm humans? The Pro-Whaling lobby is so quick to say they (whales) are just another animal - conveniently forgetting that so are we. There are over 6 billion humans and we breed rapidly by comparison so no danger of extinction, we are easier to heard and manage than whales and we taste like pork - yum yum... (Don't you love logic? See what happens when you remove the emotive component?)
2. They can not be humanely killed. If farmers chased a cow around the field for 2 or 3 hours throwing darts with "double happies" (a small firework) in to the animal causing the now terrified and in-pain animal to slowly bleed to death - or rather to the point of exhaustion and collapse - and then started butchering it while it still maybe alive - there would be a hue and cry! Yet this is what happens to whales every time one of them is hunted. So to try and compare eating of whale to that of cows and sheep is a false argument as we do not allow what happens to whales, to happen to them.
Either point on its own is sufficient to justify a ban on whaling.
To try and say "we did it in the past" does not justify it either. We use to have slaves, we use to have concentration camps, we use to have a lot of things that we now know are wrong! It's called "growing up". Many traditions have fallen by the wayside - at one point my ancestors had a "tradition" of animal sacrifice. I think I can survive without that and I'm sure the Japanese, Icelandic and Norwegian peoples can survive without whale meat.
I await your "logical" and "reasoned" response - that's if you can get off your high-horse...
Tom #6 you took the words right out of my mouth.... these creatures are mammals too yet slaughtered for human consumption.... there is no difference no matter what spin these tree huggers want to put on it.
Good bye Tree Huggers, Im sick of hearing your opinion rammed down my throat.
John's comment is typical of the unhelpful and irrational approach of the anti-whaling lobby: 1. Assert whaling is wrong. 2. Divert attention from the real issue.
What is wrong with whaling?
I'm still waiting on an answer to that question that obeys the laws of reason and respects the sanctity of fact.
Looks like Kiwi Chick and Malcom Green from the ICR are working overtime this morning. Don't they know that nobody believes any of their PR BS
I think that it is important to know that the NZ public are NOT all opposed to a sustainable whale hunt. Most people I talk to are more against the brainless antics of the Sea Shepherd. The problem is that the bleating of the ignorant wannabe environmentalist minority drowns out reasonable conversation.
Japan and co would not have to use "loop-holes" to hunt whales if there was a sensible quota in place. It's not like they really try to hide it. Go to Japan and see for yourself - there are plenty of shops with cans of whale and restaurants with it on the menu. As long as it is sustainable (which it can be) then there is no problem with this continuing. Good on them.
Why should we rollover to the Japanese? Are the general public through out the world supposed to be "stupid"? Let's get this outrageous and mindless slaughter of the most gentle creature in our oceans into the open. How many years has Japan been claiming to be harpooning these whales for "scientific reasons".Has anyone seen the documentation and results of their so called claims?,and why must it continue on an increased scale.If they are really interested in studying these gentle whales,why not attach transmitters to them and get "scientific results"without these murders. When they have conducted these "researches"--- how do they dispose of the carcasses?---donating to the homeless, the street people,low income workers--come on, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Clause fantacies were put to bed years ago--unless i've been sleeping under a log. I hope all caring nations around the world get behind Australia and say to Japan--"pull yar head in !!"
The hypocrisy of this anti-whaling piece is mind-blowing. Sheep and beef farming is a cornerstone of the NZ economy. Every year it rears tens of thousands of sentient, emotionally capable mammals for the sole purpose of slaughter and consumption. Yet, somehow, the limited and sustainable harvesting of natural populations of another type of mammal is "wrong and barbaric". Logic must be on holiday.
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Go Vegan. Stop being Hypocrites. Then the Japanese will not be able to rebuke our double standards.
I can do it, why cant you? Theres nothing ethical about killing whales or any other animal in the name of lifestyle choice. Chances are if you're reading this, you're part of the problem.