WDC welcomes EU Parliament's continued opposition to Japanese Whaling
Yesterday (25th October 2012), the European Parliament passed a resolution on the development of a a free trade agreement with Japan ( European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2012 on EU trade negotiations with Japan (2012/2711(RSP)).
WDC was pleased to note that the resolution, whilst urging the development of the agreement noted that,
'... the Commission, the Council and Parliament support the maintenance of the global moratorium on commercial whaling and a ban on international commercial trade in whale products, seek to end so-called scientific whaling and support the designation of substantial regions of ocean and seas as sanctuaries in which all whaling is indefinitely prohibited', and,
'Notes that serious divergences remain between the EU and Japan on issues related to the management of fisheries and whaling, notably Japan’s whaling under the guise of scientific whaling, and calls for broader discussions on the matter of the abolition of whale hunting and of trade in whale products'.
This is fully in accordance with EU law that prohibits any commercial whaling or trade in whale products and WDC commends the EU's parliamentarians for ensuring that this issue is front-and-centre in discussions with Japan.
WDC has long argued that EU law means that EU member states cannot vote for any form of commercial whaling and we are pleased to see EU Parliamentarians upholding this position.
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There's a lot of good comments here, but a few miss inmotfarion items I want to clear up:1) The Ady Gill is moving forward when it happens. (Very slowly of course, this can be seen in the footage from the Jap. vessel. Footage from the Bob barker shows the Whale vessel turning into the Ady to collide.) Thus both are at fault.2) The Ady was NOT dropping a prop foul line when this happened. (They had dropped it earlier in front of the big whale ship) They were all sitting outside making wise crack about the whaling vessels use of the LRAD device.) When they should have been thinking about getting out of the way of the big ship heading for them. They had plenty of time, they were just being cocky and didn't believe the ship would actually ram them.3) The Japanese whale vessel didn't intend in hitting them, but more like was trying to graze them. (I give props to the Captain of the Ady Gill, because he admits that this is likely what they were attempting.) But because the Addy Gill moved forward at the last minute, it became more than a graze, it cut 5-10 feet off the front. If they hadn't been so cocky they could have gotten out the way a long time before the whale vessel got anywhere near. After all their boat is very fast.4) For those that don't think the Ady was moving look at the video from the whale boat. Use the boat as a point of reference and notice the movement of the water directly behind the boat, it is moving out from underneath the vessel. Which is what happens when a vessel is traveling forward. (Video from the Bob Barker is not sufficient, you can't compare a boats movements against waves which are also moving objects. That is why it looks like it wasn't moving in this video.) Also some have said it wasn’t moving because they were all outside, well the boat can hold a constant speed without anyone needing to hold the throttle. This is the way it is on all boats, not like a gas pedal that will spring back if you let go of it.5) This action was completely provoked. (Not only from that day, but also from the previous campaign.) The Protesters rammed there ship into the whale ship first. Of course those ships were of comparable size, but non the less the point is that after they get there ship hit, they get on the Radio and start chewing out the whales for endangering lives. That is complete CRAP. You can't RAM into a ship full of whalers, using a ship full of protesters, endangering the lives of people on both boats, and then have the audacity to lecture them for endangering the lives of a few. THE BIAS THESE PROTESTERS HAVE IS RIDICULOUS, AND MOST OF ALL IT S PLAIN DISHONEST.6) HUMAN LIFE SHOULD ALWAYS BE MORE VALUABLE THAN ANIMAL LIFE!!!! I can list many times the captains have endangered the lives of there crew for no reason at all. They use there excuse, that, You should be willing to lay down your lives to protect the whales. But that is not the case in any of these situations, it's usually risking your lives for something that could just as easily be done safely. Many of the things are just do to lack of experience. Here are a few examples:a) In one instance they flip over a boat of people as they load it off the deck and into the water. Why? Because the guy operating the bow line lacked experience. A bow line (or Tag Line as we call them) is supposed to be kept taught, in order to keep the suspended object facing straight. But in this case the guy thinks all you have to do is hold the rope, so he couldn't understand why anyone was blaming him.b) This problem ties into the previous. The guy holding the line was the second in command of the ship. One of the most dangerous things you can have is an incompetent leader. He was chosen, not for his skills knowledge or common sense, but simply because he was a friend of the captain. This is not how you determine who is in charge when safety is paramount.c) Once again the same person is left to navigate the ship through an ice field. Ice can rip right through a hull and sink the boat killing everyone on board. But yet they have the lives of everyone on board in the hands of a guy with zero competence. (Of course most people on this ship don't know enough about sea faring or the strength of a hull to know how dangerous of a situation they are in.Food for thought: What would happen if the Japanese threw stink bombs and slippery powder on to the decks of the protestor’s ships? Give them a taste of their own medicine? I bet they would still cry that that was unfair too.Lastly: I think whaling should be fine, we kill cows for beef steaks, they kill whales for whale steaks. I am surprised that protestors have a problem with killing whales, but not with killing cows, or killing chickens, or tuna fish for that matter. What, only pretty animals are worth protecting? Plus, animals kill animals all the time, maybe they should go protest against a lion for eating a gazelle, and against a shark for eating a whale. This is the circle of life people, killing for food is ok, killing for research is wrong. They’ve got it all “bass ackwards!!”