By Michael Casey 17 November 2014 (CBS News) – The never-ending demand for Pacific bluefin tuna among sushi lovers is driving the iconic fish towards extinction, a conservation group said. The Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the status of the tuna from “least concern” to “vulnerable,” which means it is now […]
18 November 2014 (AFP) – Japan said on Tuesday it has cut its Antarctic whale-catch quota by two-thirds in a move it hopes will convince international opponents it is conducting genuine scientific research on expeditions in the region. The International Court of Justice — the highest court of the United Nations — ruled in March […]
By Peter Wynn Kirby13 October 2014 TOKYO (The New York Times) – The International Court of Justice’s decision last March to prohibit Japan’s annual whale hunt in Antarctic waters was greeted by many as an historic step against a reprehensible practice. Yet last month, despite the enormous diplomatic toll, Japan vowed to continue its whaling […]
10 October 2014 (NASA) – The cameras on the International Space Station captured this video of Super Typhoon Vongfong on 9 October 2014. Super Typhoon Vongfong Seen From ISS Technorati Tags: hurricane,Japan,Asia,global warming,climate change,NASA
9 October 2014 (NBC News) – NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted an image of Super Typhoon Vongfong in the western Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station on Thursday commenting, “I’ve seen many from here, but none like this.” The most powerful storm of 2014 continues to swirl towards Japan with maximum winds of 165 […]
27 August 2014 (euronews) – Is the sun setting on Japan’s tuna fishing industry? Faced with a recent report that the bluefin tuna population is close to collapse, Tokyo has done an about-turn and decided to slash catches by half. Last year the USA, Japan, China, and South Korea agreed to cut catches by 15% […]
By Paul Spong15 September 2014 (OrcaLab) – The 65th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, being held in fairytale seaside surroundings in Portoroz, Slovenia, began pretty much where the last meeting in Panama left off, with the issue of Greenland’s request to kill whales for “aboriginal” consumption. Readers who have followed the IWC story will […]
By Justin McCurry4 September 2014 Tokyo (theguardian.com) – Japan is expected to spark a fresh round of diplomatic tension after revealing plans to bypass a UN ban on the slaughter of whales in the Antarctic with a new, scaled-down “scientific” programme that limits its catch to minke whales. Japan was forced to end its hunt […]
By David Kirby10 September 2014 (takepart.com) – While the world’s attention focuses on Japan’s annual dolphin-killing season under way in Taiji, Iceland has been quietly escalating the hunting of endangered fin whales. But no one seems to be paying much attention, according to a report released Wednesday on the eve of the annual meeting of […]
TAIJI, Wakayama Prefecture, 2 September 2014 (Asahi Shimbun) – This coastal community’s annual dolphin hunt kicked off Sept. 1, and foreign anti-whaling activists were out in force to protest the slaughter as dozens of police officers stood by to keep the peace. Taiji is regarded as the cradle of traditional whaling in Japan. Ever since […]
