Japan firm launches whale curry

Source: AFP







Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCfFFLwNnkpkBf9LMcuzWatYEApg

doesn't this fly in the face of whale meat being a 'delicacy' ?

oh, right, silly me.

It's research. Personally I'd like to see someone research how many whalers can get off a ship before it sinks.

:argh:

Wealthy Japanese men sign up for clinical trial....$100,000 for treatment with 50 grams of dried ground whale penis...

total science...

the same as Soylent Green?

Are they endangered?

The curry is made from Minke whales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale

"The IUCN list the northern species as Lower Risk/Near Threatened and the southern as Lower Risk/Conservation dependent. CITES list both of the species in Appendix I (endangered) with the exception of the West Greenland stock, which is given in Appendix II (trade controls required)."

With a handle like Bonobo, I'd have thought you'd be a little more sensitive to slaughtering intelligent mammals for businessmen's and lady's lowfat lunches.

Like Tyler Durden from The Fight Club. I seemed to remember the character as not being so reflexively PC.

The fact is that the Minke Whales would be WAY DOWN the list of animals to worry about wrt overfishing and conservation. Bonobos on the other hand are seriously, seriously fucked like the mtn gorillas, orangs and others.

So, I don't think that the particular level of vitriol, reserved for the Japanese here on DU, is warranted.

The US Navy kills and indiscrimately tortures these same animals and many others with sonar but no one seems to feel that deserves any attention because there is no poster putting 5 articles a day on LBN. Does that make it less important? Does the fact that there are like 500 mtn. gorillas left matter? Of course it matter. As do the minke whales, but not that much.

Triage. Ever heard of it?


http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/whales/minke.html

Minke whales can be found virtually worldwide, but are less common in the tropics than in cooler waters. The Minke often enters estuaries, bays and inlets and during summer may feed around headlands and small islands. Most, seasonally migrating from polar feeding grounds to warm temperate to tropical breeding grounds although there appears to be some groups resident year-round. There are three geographically isolated populations recognized, in the North Pacific, in the North Atlantic and in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Minke is the smallest of the seven great whales. It's size made it uneconomical to harvest commercially while the larger whales were in abundance. The species became protected with the declaration of the 'Moratorium' on whaling by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Norway and Japan are two countries that argue since the Minke is abundant it is not endangered and therefore they are harvesting (killing), albeit in small numbers, this species on a regular basis. Although it's numbers are not endangered it is on the endangered list as a threatened species, and is protected (since 1986) worldwide by international law.

Got a cell phone? Then you're part of the less than 500 mountain gorillas left problem (google "coltan" if you doubt me), AND the forest elephant problem. You want to deal with it? Good Luck.

We fix and deal with what we CAN.

PC has nothing to do with it. The world has set a moratorium on the whales, the Japanese and the Norwegians should know better. THEY DON'T NEED THE DAMNED WHALE MEAT. As far as the US Navy goes, there is a temporary hold on sonar tests.

As to Tyler Durden: I think he'd say we'd gotten close enough to hitting bottom on the whale issue.

I like Bonobos because they use sex to get rid of tension. It's better than their cousin chimps who, like us, kill all too much.

I don't think the Japanese need whale meat any more than we need cow meat. The fact that the whale is so SACRED to us, as opposed to cows (which are revered in India) is a CULTURALLY-BOUND ISSUE.

Some Japanese eat whale, some Koreans eat dog, some Africans eat bugs. Different strokes. The minke whales don't appear to be in serious peril. So it is the sacred cow issue that is bothering people.

And I'm sorry that for you the being closest to us on the evolutionary tree is just a symbol of sex used for tension release.

There aren't any "sacred cow" issues here to me. ALL animals are sacred, and one day I'll live without consuming any of them.

I feel very sorry for you that the sacredness of all life escapes you. It is a holy feeling, one that as an agnostic, is the closest I will every get to religious rapture.

You know nothing of me, who I love, what is sacred to me, etc.

If your tendency to judge others based on very little indeed is an indication of your vaunted spiritual level, I am unimpressed to say the least.

Sorry you took it that way. Just clearing up what you seemed to think were my "sacred" cows. I sort of thought that was a little judgmental m'self, but oh well.

Your comment seemed to say some were more well, "holy" than others. Sorry if I misinterpreted; you did seem pretty pissed off though.

The claim is that the curry will be made from Minke whales but as the
government-supported illegal whalers have already stated that they will
be killing humpbacks (amongst others), I would not bet a single yen that
the other whale-meat does not end up in the same "research establishment".

Maybe next they can make things out of dead Manchurians their ancestors killed in the 1930s.
Last Toyota I ever buy, Hidecki.

Burns:

Some men hunt for sport,
Others hunt for food,
The only thing I'm hunting for,
Is an outfit that looks good...

See my vest, see my vest,
Made from real gorilla chest,
Feel this sweater, there's no better,
Than authentic Irish setter.

See this hat, 'twas my cat,
My evening wear - vampire bat,
These white slippers are albino
African endangered rhino.

Grizzly bear underwear,
Turtles' necks, I've got my share,
Beret of poodle, on my noodle
It shall rest,

Try my red robin suit,
It comes one breast or two,
See my vest, see my vest,
See my vest.

Like my loafers? Former gophers -
It was that or skin my chauffeurs,
But a greyhound fur tuxedo
Would be best,

So let's prepare these dogs,

Mrs. Potts:

Kill two for matching clogs,

Burns:

See my vest, see my vest,
Oh please, won't you see my vest.

http://www.snpp.com/guides/lyrics_list.html

Bastards. :(

and the rest of her company can choke on a chicken bone.

> Asian Lunch decided to introduce whale after being approached by Whale Labo,
> a seller set up last year with the backing of the government's Fisheries
> Agency, Yamaguchi said.

State support does not negate illegal & immoral. It *does* however tar the
whole nation with the same brush.

> "There is no illegality about the meat as it comes from the government's
> research whaling. We also wanted to try out a new food material," she said.

Said without a trace of irony. :puke:

Just how good for you is this whale curry that Asia Lunch is pushing? How much mercury and other toxins are the whales carrying? Most whales are pretty high up in the food chain and the higher it goes, the more mercury, dioxins, and other nasties accumulate in the fat and other tissues.

Even if you agree with the Japanese whalers and their backers that cetaceans are dumb animals (I do NOT!), would you want YOUR kid eating toxic whale meat?