(JP) Greenpeace tweaks strategy to wage more effective antiwhaling campaign

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020515b6.htm

 

WHALE WATCHING

 

Greenpeace tweaks strategy to wage more effective

antiwhaling campaign

 

By MICK CORLISS

Staff writer

 

If there is one group that has vociferously carved out

an antiwhaling niche -- globally, but especially in

Japan -- it is Greenpeace.

 

The organization's activities and antics have been a

thorn in the side of the government and those in favor

of whaling, and Junko Sakurai, of Greenpeace Japan's

antiwhaling campaign, is blunt in her assessment of

the group's position.

 

" We are against resuming commercial whaling because it

has not worked in the past, " she said. " As long as

whaling is based on profit, we believe it will exceed

the ability of whales to reproduce. "

 

With Japan being the major market for whale meat, the

group is concerned that other countries will try to

cash in on a lifting of the ban on hunting and plunge

whales back into another era of over-exploitation.

 

Neither does Greenpeace buy into the government's

argument that whales are eating too many marine

resources, inhibiting the revival of whale stocks, and

should therefore be culled.

 

" Ecosystems are not that simple, " Sakurai said.

 

The group has described the government's position as

" astonishingly weak " and based on flawed science.

Marine life not consumed by whales simply does not

translate into more for people, according to marine

ecology.

 

For example, sperm whales eat fish and squid, but by

killing more whales, the number of fish could decrease

because squid would prey on them in the absence of

their natural predator, the sperm whale.

 

Since the meeting of the International Whaling

Commission in London last year, the World Wide Fund

for Nature has toned down its opposition, stating that

if strict conditions are met, it could recognize the

logic of resuming commercial whaling.

 

Meanwhile, Greenpeace has sponsored public study

sessions with a number of whaling experts in the runup

to the Shimonoseki conference to examine the issue as

well as elaborate on its own position.

 

These sessions are part of an effort to redesign its

image as a group that is able to participate in

dialogue.

 

" In Japan, radical activities can lead to abhorrence

(from society) and are meaningless, " Sakurai said. " We

want to be regarded as a group that can discuss

issues, not just as noisy people opposed to whaling. "

 

Despite adjusting its approach, the group does not

intend to alter its position.

 

Still, in a nation where whale meat is readily

available and some view whaling as a hallowed cultural

tradition, Greenpeace's position is a tricky one.

 

And few are more familiar with navigating the emotive

issue than veteran campaigner Sakurai.

 

Despite condemning and campaigning against whaling,

Greenpeace has not come out against eating whale meat

because it does not disapprove of meat from whales and

dolphins accidentally snagged in fishing nets being

utilized.

 

" It is hard to explain to Japanese people that saying

don't catch whales is not the same as saying don't eat

whale. This is probably the most difficult point for

us campaigning in Japan, " Sakurai said.

 

Greenpeace has criticized Japan's research whaling

since its inception in 1987 -- following the

introduction of the whaling moratorium -- as a ruse to

continue taking whales by abusing a loophole in the

whaling treaty.

 

Likewise, Sakurai is suspicious of Japan's plan to

expand its catch to include 50 coastal minke and 50

North Pacific sei whales. This will boost the total

annual catch to up to 440 antarctic minke, 150 North

Pacific minke, 50 Bryde's whales, 50 sei whales and 10

sperm whales.

 

" Why do they plan to take 50 sei whales and 50

Bryde's, but only 10 sperm whales, even though there

are many more sperm whales? " she asked. " It is because

sperm whale meat doesn't sell well. This is not

scientific research. This is commercial whaling. "

 

Sakurai points out that the 50 coastal minke will be

caught for research in waters where the government has

annually requested that the IWC permit small-scale

local coastal whalers a one-time commercial catch of

50 minke.

 

Sakurai also questions the merits of resuming

commercial whaling from ecological perspectives.

 

Resuming whaling could lead to poaching and accidental

harpooning of calves of endangered species of large

whales in place of the smaller, more abundant minke

whales, she said.

 

The Japan Times: May 15, 2002

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