Norway Now Kills More Whales Than Japan And Iceland Combined

[Cheetah]

The Norwegian government is funding a number of projects, both to promote domestic sales of whale products and to develop alternative commercial products derived from whales, including dietary supplements, medicines, and cosmetics.

https://focusingonwildlife.com/news/norway-now-kills-more-whales-than-japan-and-iceland-combined/

Whale sushi is nice, but if you like meat, you really should try whale steak at some point. It's absolutely lovely!

(Though make sure you cook it right, so it doesn't taste like fish oil...)

For the numbers:
Norway hunts the Common Minke whale in the Northeast Atlantic. It's population there is estimated by the IWC at around 107,000 (180,000 in the entire North Atlantic). We have quotas of about 1200 animals a year, though in practice we catch roughly 600 animals a year.

 

[Kyriakos]

It's ok, as long as you don't kill the prince of Whales.

 

[Snerk]

Some whale meat is ok, some is a little to irony (if that makes sense) for my taste.

I don't know that much about modern whale fishing (hunting?), but if the kill is quick and the harvest is sustainable then I'm all for it. I'd rather eat that than any produce from the industrialised meat farming complex.

 

[Senethro]

I'm not in any way religious, but consuming the flesh of social, near-sentient species among primates and cetaceans comes pretty close to sacrilege and abomination.

 

[Snerk]

If we worry about killing and/or mistreating cognitive complex beings I'd start with the >1 billion pigs we kill each year.

 

[Kyriakos]

Maybe a way around it would be to hit all newborn pigs with a hammer, so that they are even less able to identify stuff and so it would be more ethical to eat them.

 

[Yeekim]

If we worry about killing and/or mistreating cognitive complex beings I'd start with the >1 billion pigs we kill each year.

It is easier to start with couple thousand ceteceans, precisely because pig industry is so large and entrenched.
Not hypocritical, merely practical.

 

[Birdjaguar]

There is no good reason to harvest whales of any sort. Our ocean focus should be cleaning it up not fishing more. Beef and pork should be our next targets for serious reduction.

 

[Cheetah]

It is easier to start with couple thousand ceteceans, precisely because pig industry is so large and entrenched.
Not hypocritical, merely practical.

If the goal is to stop consuming animals, sure. And if you're a vegetarian I can see where you're coming from.

Personally I'm perfectly fine with consuming other animals to sustain myself. I eat whales, cows, pigs, deer, and fish, and I even have leather clothing.

 

[Snerk]

It is easier to start with couple thousand ceteceans, precisely because pig industry is so large and entrenched.
Not hypocritical, merely practical.

I strongly disagree. If the aim is to make actual significant positive impact, with the animals interests in mind, we should tackle the biggest problems first. Industrialised meat farming is animals reared from cradle to table. It's a process that requires active human inputs in every step of the way. There's nothing natural about it, it's suffering created and maintained by humans alone. It's the obvious first step. If we include the environmental aspect it becomes even more obvious.
Industrialised meat farming is a huge contributor to global emissions and deforestation. Sustainable whale hunting is not.

 

[Cheetah]

There is no good reason to harvest whales of any sort. Our ocean focus should be cleaning it up not fishing more. Beef and pork should be our next targets for serious reduction.

A serious management of the fisheries and the oceanic ecosystem is best helped by exploiting the entire food chain. By only going for fish, krill and other species, we're outcompeting whales for the food. In that view, the least we should do is to fish a bit less, and hunt a bit more whale.

 

[Birdjaguar]

A serious management of the fisheries and the oceanic ecosystem is best helped by exploiting the entire food chain. By only going for fish, krill and other species, we're out competing whales for the food. In that view, the least we should do is to fish a bit less, and hunt a bit more whale.

We have already exploited the food chain unreasonably and polluted the place unreasonably. Killing whales to provide high priced exotic meals for the well-to-do, seems particularly wasteful.

 

[Kyriakos]

We have already exploited the food chain unreasonably and polluted the place unreasonably. Killing whales to provide high priced exotic meals for the well-to-do, seems particularly wasteful.

You might think so, but if you don't eat the whale and then throw the non-edible part (eg in the trash-bin), new whales cannot grow.

 

[Birdjaguar]

You might think so, but if you don't eat the whale and then throw the non-edible part (eg in the trash-bin), new whales cannot grow.

That makes no sense to me.

 

[Snerk]

We have already exploited the food chain unreasonably and polluted the place unreasonably. Killing whales to provide high priced exotic meals for the well-to-do, seems particularly wasteful.

Like already said, sustainable whale harvesting is a lot less exploitable to ecosystems than harvesting fish (though that varies a lot between different fish stocks). Not harvesting calories from our oceans is not an option as it will cause large scale famine.
Whale meat isn't that high priced hereabouts. There is a lot of meat on a whale.

 

[Cheetah]

We have already exploited the food chain unreasonably and polluted the place unreasonably. Killing whales to provide high priced exotic meals for the well-to-do, seems particularly wasteful.

The whale-part of the food chain is very undertaxed, relatively speaking, but you're right that we've been fishing too much for a long time. Most top predators, including many species of sea birds are struggling. It would probably be more moral to argue in favour of a moratorium on fishing -- except for the whole famine aspect.

And the meat isn't particularly expensive. It's sold frozen in most supermarkets.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Like already said, sustainable whale harvesting is a lot less exploitable to ecosystems than harvesting fish (though that varies a lot between different fish stocks). Not harvesting calories from our oceans is not an option as it will cause large scale famine.
Whale meat isn't that high priced hereabouts. There is a lot of meat on a whale.

The best solution is a speedy transition to plant based based proteins until we learn how to sustain fishing better than we do now. ATM, there is no economic reason to hunt whales.

 

[Snerk]

The best solution is a speedy transition to plant based based proteins until we learn how to sustain fishing better than we do now. ATM, there is no economic reason to hunt whales.

I'm all for a transition to more plant based proteins, but for the foreseeable future large scale meat consumption will still be a thing. We should endeavour to make that meat consumption as ethical and sustainable as possible. That is why we should hunt whales.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'm all for a transition to more plant based proteins, but for the foreseeable future large scale meat consumption will still be a thing. We should endeavour to make that meat consumption as ethical and sustainable as possible =/= That is why we should hunt whales.

FTFY

I can see we will not reach agreement on this.

 

[Snerk]

I am of course aware that whale hunting is hugely controversial. And the research into the intellectual capacities of these magnificent creatures can sometimes make me questions some things. I am however pragmatically minded in these matters, so I definitely think that we have much bigger fish to fry, so to speak.