Not that intentional whale kills aren't a problem, but this story refers to the incidental deaths of extremely vulnerable western grey whales caught in the nets of Japanese fishermen:
In January, fishermen found the dead body of a juvenile female in fixed fishing nets in Yoshihama Bay, northeastern Japan. It was the fourth such whale to be found trapped, entangled and drowned off the Pacific coast since 2005; all of them have been female.
Can I just point out that this is one more good reason not to eat fish? In addition to plundering our oceans beyond their capacity to reproduce fish for the human population to consume, the process of commercial fishing affects countless other species as well.Unfortunately, this critically endangered species doesn't have a lot of help, as of yet. While fishermen are not compensated for their damaged nets from these accidental captures, it is not yet illegal, and there are no methods in place to avoid trapping whales (other than not fishing with nets anymore, of course).
Toshio Kasuya, a retired researcher in Tokyo who specialized in marine mammals, says the government should take more initiative. They should call for a greater effort to get whales out of traps alive, he says, and develop technologies to prevent whales from getting trapped in the first place. Kasuya says nets that produce warning beeps may be one way of doing this.Special thanks to my wife for making sure I saw this story!
"So far, we don't have technologies that could work effectively," Kasuya says. "And the government's efforts are far from enough."
Photo by Dave Weller
Labels: endangered species, environment, whales, wildlife
