"Despite outcry, Japanese town to hold dolphin hunt; Fishermen call practice key to their livelihood" by Adam Le, Bloomberg News | August 30, 2010
TAIJI, Japan — Fishermen here, whose annual dolphin slaughter was depicted in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove,’’ say they will resume the hunt this week because the 400-year-old tradition is the foundation of their industry.
“We have no intention to stop hunting dolphins,’’ said Miyato Sugimori, administrative chief of the Taiji Town Fisheries Association. “Our young fishermen can’t continue to live in this town without the hunt.’’
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Taiji’s “oikomi,’’ a method of hunting in which dolphins are herded into a bay for slaughter, drew worldwide criticism after the documentary was released.
“It’s a horrific way to kill them,’’ said Sakae Hemmi, a spokeswoman for Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese environmental protection group. “Even if they let them go, the structure of the dolphins’ group is disrupted.’’
According to the Japan Fisheries Agency, Taiji is the only place in Japan that practices “oikomi.’’ After herding the dolphins into the bay, the fishermen impale them with harpoons.
Driving a spear into the dolphin’s brain can kill the mammal in as little as two seconds and is the most humane way to conduct the slaughter, said Sugimori, who is seen in “The Cove’’ observing the filmmakers. Sugimori, 59, said the hunt is needed to make the local fishing industry viable....
Sugimori said if dolphin hunting were banned, young people may choose office jobs that pay more rather than join his association, which has an average age of 68. The association filed for bankruptcy and was restructured in February 2007, according to Tokyo Shoko Research....
“Westerners eat cows, Australians eat kangaroos,’’ Sugimori said. “Japan, including Taiji, is surrounded by ocean, so we eat things from the sea which include fish, whales, and dolphins. There’s nothing wrong with that.’’
As much as wish they wouldn't do this they have a point there.
Alex Sarkissian, 17, a Canadian student who was visiting the Taiji Whale Museum, said he didn’t know that dolphin hunting was a Japanese tradition.
“I like dolphins, and I don’t see why they would slaughter them,’’ he said. “I can’t compare dolphins and cows. They’re not on the same level of mental capacity.’’
Same thing with people. Should we kill all the "dumb" ones?
The attitude displayed by the kid shocks me!
Sorry, kiddo, but the COW has JUST AS MUCH of a RIGHT to a HAPPY LIFE as ANY OTHER CREATURE on God's great planet!!
The hunt lasts from September to February....
Think the paper will stay on top of it like they do the war on "terror."
Come to think of it, the dolphins are being terrorized, aren't they?
And if they are so smart like likely know it!
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Related:
Starving Japanese Eating Grass
Japan Rubs Globalists Raw
Also see: Making Willie and Flipper Go Deaf
Someone going to make a movie about that, MSM?
