Norwegian Whaling

I believe that a rational human being can see past all the emotions and understand that all sentient beings have the same rights, and that if it is acceptable to kill a pig, fish, chicken, or cow, it is acceptable to kill a whale, so long as it is done in as humane a manner as possible. Here is a source that states that minke whales are not endangered [1]. My opponent's source does not state that "spear drift whaling" is currently practiced. It would involve a whale being stabbed from a small boat with a spear, and waiting for it to die and wash up on the beach for processing. This is not practiced anymore. This source even describes the current method, which for some reason my opponent neglected to include in his argument. "Modern minke whaling is conducted by many small to medium sized fishing boats in spring and summer seasons. These vessels are equipped with a 50mm or 60mm harpoon cannon and penthrite grenade tipped harpoons designed to explode inside the whale. Each harpoon is connected to a nylon line and through a system of springs to a winch. The boats search known whaling grounds surrounding the coast of Norway at 4-6 knots watching for signs of feeding whales or flocks of birds eating krill. When a whale is spotted the gunner attempts to shoot the whale in its side, near the thorax, as the animal surfaces to blow. If the whale does not appear to die immediately the animal is hauled up to the boat where whalers with rifles will attempt to finish the animal with a shot to the head. When the dead minke whale is alongside of the boat a wire or rope is secured to the tail and the animal is pulled onto the deck through a gate on the gunwale. The whale is butchered at sea and the meat and blubber is then packed in ice and stored on the boat to be processed later on shore." [2] My opponent's source states exactly what he has claimed to be false. " The results for the 1,667 minke whales caught in the three seasons (2000-2002) are shown in Fig. 2. The statistical analysis showed an IDR of about 80 % with no statistically significant difference between the three seasons. The results also showed that the whales died instantaneously or very quickly when the grenade hits and detonates centrally in the thorax or near the central nervous system."[3] "IDR" stands for "Instantaneous death rate". This statistic is found even on the anti-whaling IWC's website. [4] I don't see how the amount of blood that is drained from a dead whale is relevant. No matter how bloody a butcher's job is, the animals are not in pain when they are dead, so... yeah. And the organs are not harvested, it is only meat and blubber. The rest is thrown into the sea and the fish eat it. If my opponent holds the opinion that any killing of animals for any use is morally wrong, then I can never win this debate, and I can only argue that whaling is no worse than any other killing of animals for food. But please know that there is not much farming to be done in Norway, so a lot of nutrition for people comes from fish and meat. My opponent states that 1400-1500 whales are killed annually, yet the IWC recommended quota is 1,286 and hunters generally only take half that amount. The money from the hunt does not have a "negligible economic benefit" for the communities in which it takes place. [5] For the national economy as a whole, yes. But a society is a society, no matter how small. The number of killings is rising by maybe a hundred fifty whales or so. Hardly an exponential growth pattern. [6] There are no "private and unlicensed killings" that you talk about and I will be impressed if you find anyone other than sea shepherd who is willing to say there are. The more overt a kill is, the less suffering there is. The whale feels less pain with a harpoon grenade than if we used say, a screwdriver. No one "throws explosives" at a whale. It is shot with a very accurate gun. No one "suffocates it on dry land", and they only dispose of the whale's bones and unusable connective tissue because these cannot be consumed by people. Only fish will eat them in the ocean. And if a fish eats a dead whale, it is not cannibalism. Netting whales is not practiced anymore and so is completely irrelevant to this debate because today, whaling does not involve nets. Psychological studies are virtually impossible to apply to situations unlike those in the study. They are hardly even real science. And while abusing prisoners can make the guard feel superior, there is no benefit to watching an animal slowly die. The whalers are dedicated to reviving the hunt to establish it as an industry again, and logging humane kills benefits that cause. And it is not anonymous. The hunts are all recorded by a monitoring device and inspectors all manage the activity. [5] Scientific whaling is currently only practiced by Japan. Therefore it is irrelevant here. [1] http://iwc.int... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://www.nammco.no... [4] http://iwc.int... [5]http://www.fisheries.no...