Sellers aim to introduce dish to youth market
Wall Street Journal Sep 2, 08 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Illegal for two decades, whale meat is back on menus in Iceland, and entrepreneurs are hoping to turn young people on to its charms, the Wall Street Journal reports. The food is reminiscent of beef, but costs only half as much—perhaps a mark in its favor for the young. Still, encouraging them to try the stuff is difficult. “It's not going to happen,” says one 20-year-old.
More »
Spectacular success for conservation
Guardian (UK) Aug 12, 08 9:56 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Humpback whales, once feared to be on the verge of extinction, have made such a dramatic comeback that the International Union for Conservation of Nature has removed them from its list of vulnerable species. A ban on humpback whaling in the 1960s has allowed their numbers to grow to 55,000 worldwide, reports the Guardian .
More »
Opinion
In travel to Arctic, Post columnist sees new damage alongside old
Washington Post Jul 16, 08 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
On an otherwise deserted patch of Arctic ice stands an abandoned settlement, proof that humans once lived here. Nearby lies a reminder of why they came: dozens of massive whale skulls, still bleeding oil into the ground. Men once flocked to this land for whale oil, Michael Gerson writes in the Washington Post; now our dependence on a different kind of oil might change it forever.
More »
Fractious conference delays decision on moratorium by a year
Economist Jun 25, 08 8:25 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
A moratorium on commercial whaling looks set to continue for another year after an international body put off a decision yesterday, the Economist notes, but its fate beyond that appears tenuous. The 81-nation International Whaling Commission, often paralyzed by conflicting views, also decided to revamp its decision-making process by forming a core panel of 20 nations to hash out resolutions.
More »
Pro-whaling Japan pounces on neighbor's seeming hypocrisy
Sydney Morning Herald Mar 17, 08 9:10 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Australia is planning to cull 400 kangaroos on a military base, and Japan—oft-criticized by Australia for its whaling practices—is jumping at the opportunity to hail its neighbor as hypocritical, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Not so, says Australia’s PM. The whaling issue is subject to "an agreement between many states, and it goes to whether what is occurring is scientific whaling or not," said Kevin Rudd.
More »
Plan would let Japan hunt legally, but decrease slaughter
Independent (UK) Mar 9, 08 4:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Representatives from more than 70 governments gathered last week at a secret meeting in London to hash out a compromise that would allow Japan to resume commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years. Pro- and anti-whaling nations discussed plans to lift the worldwide ban on whaling, but not without raising the ire of environmentalists, the Independent says.
More »
Japanese vessel denies using bullets against activists
Guardian (UK) Mar 7, 08 10:03 AM CST
(Newser)
-
An anti-whaling activist says he was shot during a clash with a Japanese ship on the high seas, the Guardian reports. Japanese officials deny the allegations from the captain of the Sea Shepherd and say they fired only flash grenades, not bullets. Paul Watson, though, says he pulled one from his Kevlar vest.
More »
Action draws condemnation from Japan, Australia
Reuters Mar 3, 08 8:46 AM CST
(Newser)
-
In the latest clash between Japanese whalers and activists in Antarctic waters, members of a militant anti-whaling group threw bottles of a slick, foul-smelling rancid butter concoction onto the whaling fleet's flagship. Japanese officials said three sailors were injured when butyric acid, found in spoiled butter, splashed into their eyes, Reuters reports. "It's an unforgivable act and we protest strongly," said a Japanese government spokesman.
More »
With Greenpeace gone to refuel, fleet harpoons 5 more
Australia's News Network Feb 1, 08 9:45 AM CST
(Newser)
-
Japanese whalers have resumed their hunt in Antarctic waters, killing at least five whales when protest ships pulled back to refuel, the Australian News Network reports. Witnesses reported seeing the whales harpooned in the Southern Ocean after ships from Greenpeace and another protest group withdrew. In Tokyo, the Australian foreign minister protested the resumed hunt.
More »
Australian goverment moves to free men from belly of whaling ship
CNN Jan 17, 08 5:37 AM CST
(Newser)
-
An Australian customs ship is steaming on it way to pick up two protesters being held on board a Japanese whaling ship, where they were lashed to a railing, CNN reports. The activists were seized by the ship's crew Tuesday after they boarded to deliver a protest letter saying that the Yushin Maru was violating the law by killing whales. A video has been released showing the protesters bound on the ship.
More »
Eco-warriors 'kidnapped,' tied to ship's mast
Associated Press Jan 15, 08 10:35 AM CST
(Newser)
-
An Australian judge has banned hunting by Japanese whalers in a large section of their traditional grounds in Australian-claimed waters off Antarctica. The ruling came today just hours after crew members of a militant eco-ship boarded a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean to deliver a protest note—then were "kidnapped" by the whalers and tied to a mast, the AP reports.
More »
Hunt for 1,000 whales disrupted in sea chase
Sydney Morning Herald Jan 14, 08 4:04 AM CST
(Newser)
-
The Greenpeace pursuit of Japanese whaling ships continued yesterday after a ship operated by the environmental group earlier chased down and scattered a fleet of six Japanese whaling vessels in the waters off Antarctica. The Japanese fleet plans to hunt down 1,000 whales in what operators call a "scientific" expedition, but Greenpeace officials consider a thin cover for commercial whaling.
More »
High noon on high seas as rival vessels battle to save mammoth creatures
Guardian (UK) Jan 13, 08 6:00 AM CST
(Newser)
-
Fears of a deadly battle increased yesterday as a Greenpeace ship began to close in on a Japanese whaling fleet intending to kill 1,000 whales. Also steaming through the Southern Ocean off Antarctica was a far more militant "eco ship," planning to ram the whaling vessels. "We are not down here to protest—we're here to stop them," ominously warned a spokesman for Sea Shepherd International.
More »
Australian pressure leads Tokyo to call off humpback hunt
AFP Dec 21, 07 7:35 AM CST
(Newser)
-
In its first-ever turnaround on whaling, the Japanese government has dropped its plans to hunt humpbacks. The about-face is a victory for Kevin Rudd, the new Australian prime minister, who had objected strenuously and ordered a patrol of the humpback hunt. Tokyo said, however, that the fleet currently en route to the Antarctic Ocean will hunt almost 1,000 whales of other species, including the giant fin whale.
More »
It cites tradition but denies tribe's bid
to fish for salmon
Los Angeles Times Nov 24, 07 3:25 PM CST
(Newser)
-
Japan has a ready defense for its internationally maligned whale hunt: Whaling is integral to Japanese culture, embedded in the country's traditional diet, literature, and religion. Yet this argument looks questionable in light of the Japanese government's refusal to allow indigenous people to continue their traditional salmon fishing, writes Bruce Wallace in an analysis for the LA Times .
More »