[JT]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/reveal ... 02432.html

This is absolutely sickening. Stocks of these magnificent fish down to 4%. Japan has completely raped the population for it's own selfish interests while looking the international community in the eyes and claiming it is adhering to the rules to guarantee the blue fins survival.

This is simple greed. Human beings can be so short sighted!

 

[HiRAEdd]

It amazes me how countries that over the centuries have been so smart, can be so incredibly dumb. Then again, it also amazes me that the dominant species on this planet, the one that supposedly has all this great intelligence can rape and plunder resources to the point of extinction and then have the gaul to sit there and wonder what went wrong.

 

[Peril]

Its also remarkable that government money is wasted on stopping harmless fishing while this plunder goes on. I don't subscribe to the "man is a blight on the earth" hypothesis, because there are only two valid responses, neither of which is palatable enough to even discuss. However, its quite challenging at times.

 

[DiveYak]

Saw a program on TV the other night that shows how they have lied about the number of tuna they have been catching for 20yrs, well over doulble their quota....only Japanese observers aloud on their boats etc.

If you want to see how in harmony they are with the environment just go to a beach or river side over there!! Terrible..................

 

[yakfly]

on the subject of the japanese,saw this on another website,couldnt watch it all the way through
http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin
makes me wonder whether we've really evolved or not

 

[AdrianK]

Not a champagne moment for race relations - we have to remember, though, that like in Australia, the whole of their population does not necessarily agree with government (and sometimes big business) policy.
Take whaling - the demand for whale meat in Japan is actually so low that it is a government subsidised industry - the young people in that country are overwhelmingly against whaling, and the numbers are growing. Some observers feel that if the international heat was taken off Japan, they could scale down whaling voluntarily without losing face to the international community by appearing to back down.
Don't know if I believe that, but interesting thought.

 

[JT]

It is a very interesting perspective Adrian. Having lived in Japan for 5 years I suspect that you may be on the money.

JT

 

[Biggera Yakker]

That's the bit that annoys me most, all of our best seafood is exported and sold over there for such a high price that I can't afford it!!!
We should make it 100 times the price so they can only afford a little bit and then Aussie fishermen make a good quid and sell it for a fair price here and we can eat some of the good stuff too!!!