In DEFENCE of whaling?

Incredibly, there seems to be some Japanese who think whaling is a good thing.
Today in the Japan Times was this letter:
Hold your beef about whale meat

By MISAO NAKAYA
Nara

J.H.G.'s Nov. 22 letter, "Plenty of other things to eat," motivated me to respond. It is true that only a few countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland have hunted whales for food. Japanese fishermen used to make the best use of all parts of the whale, not only its meat but also fats and other stuff.

On the other hand, countries like the United States used to hunt whales only for the oil rendered from the fat, discarding all whale meat. What a waste! That was probably because Americans didn't have the habit of eating whale meat, just wasting the precious resources of the Earth.

Whales still provide a kind of meat that people eat for their meals. Although many kinds of whales were on the verge of extinction, some whales, such as minke, have proliferated to the extent that they can be used for our meals. Those whales are eating so much smaller fish, including sardines, that it is becoming harder for us to have fish for meals.

If the number of whales keeps increasing at the present rate, we will have fish shortages in the near future. It is too arrogant to insist that Americans can eat beef but that Japanese shouldn't eat whales.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

And my response:


I feel I have to respond to MISAO NAKAYA's letter of Dec 4,2007, "Hold your beef about whale meat".
To use America's continued addiction to beef as an excuse for Japan's whaling is morally questionable to say the least. One's actions should need to be defended by pointing out the errors of others.
Nakaya's letter is a veritable brochure for Japan's whaling industry and quotes the oft-mentioned fallacy about whales and their fish consumption. I don't think there is a single, credible (i.e. not funding by the ICR or a similarly vested-interest body) study that would give this any weight. Even if there were, one could argue that perhaps instead of slaughtering some of the earth's greatest inhabitants you could, oh, I don't know... eat less fish???
That Japan and the Japanese don't seem to mind being globally identified by their whaling is a mystery to me. I would not want to be known as 'the ones who kill whales'. Indeed that is near the top of what people think of when they think of Japan, and I think that is sad. And if Japan managed, as Nakaya's letter implies, that they limited themselves to Minke whales then maybe there would be some measure of tolerance. But, as was reported recently, that Japan thinks that scientific research (the by-products of which - the meat - seem to make it to the stores shelves somehow) on Humpback and other great whales is going ahead as well.
I find the action shameful and a striking blow against what I truly think is a great nation and people.

On another note, if Nakaya really wanted to try and win us over there should have been some mention of Japan's spending sprees to try and win sway at the IWC. All over Africa and the Caribbean poor nations receive millions from Japan to gain their vote of support. That, it could be argued, does some good in the world. Shame that it comes at the cost of the lives of some of the world's gentle giants.