Should the New Zealand Navy be ordered to send a frigate to escort Japanese whalers out of the area..
Should the New Zealand Navy be ordered to send a frigate to escort Japanese whalers out of the area..
A New Zealand Orion patrol aircraft spotted the Japanese whaling fleet heading for the Antarctic Ross sea, heightening concerns the Japanese will begin hunting in New Zealand's Antarctic territory.
The aircraft was on a routine surveillance of fishing activity in the Southern Ocean. Until previously the Japanese whaling fleet had confined its activities to Australian territorial waters. An Australian Federal court ruling last week declared the Japanese fleets activities as being illegal.
The New Zealand conservation Minister has said the New Zealand Government was concerned about the whaling fleets movements, particularly because NZ is responsible for search and rescue operations in the Ross Sea.
The Minister, Ms Steve Chadwick, said we are concerned for the risk to human life and the Antarctic's pristine environment if the Japanese fleet encounter's problems there. Just last year there was a fire aboard the factory ship, NISHIN MARU, stranding it in the Ross Sea. One crew member was killed and the stricken ship containing hundreds of tonnes of heavy fuel oil, posted a genuine environmental risk.
This poses a real question: Considering the Japanese fleet is illegally entering New Zealand Antarctic waters, should a New Zealand naval frigate be sent to escort the fleet from NZ waters?
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Yes, protect them whalers from the Australians!
Actually, I suggest removal of crew. then scuttle the whalers crafts. Alternatively, remove all winches and the harpoons from the hunter craft.
Sink the devils.
Of course, I must be joking!
I'm serious,Les.
should we arrest the fleet and take them into custody?
Visit Kiwi Riverman
Remember the Nautilus, Captain Nemo, the reason he sank slavers
A modern Nautilus in the hands of the Sea Shepherd Paul Watson could strike fear into these as well as act upon the intruder whalers.
This is not an easy thing to say. I do think NZ and Australia could quietly offer the Japanese a message saying they disapprove of harvesting of whales and dolphins (porpoise) and offer good deals on mutton. On wool. Attendent to the message would be an offer to vacate the entire southern ocean -- leaving the whaling ships in port as salvage, with the promise to meet them if they rebuild and put an end to whaling in the southern hemisphere.
"should we arrest the fleet and take them into custody?"
Yes. But I would offer either salvage price for the fleet or scuttle them. Since NZ is limited in metals, melt the metals down or hammer them into useful things. Give Neptune the whaler's craft otherwise.
I would allow the Japanese, of course, to retrieve their personnel.
Feeding the Japanese is something they can do on their own -- and they can fish the southern hemisphere with wind blown sailing ships -- but industrial whaling needs to be stopped -- as well as industrial shark finning. I would suggest open ocean patrols, UN - sanctioned or not, like Sea Shepherd, but with NZ and Aussie Government support. Those guilty of the practices of whaling or finning should be jailed.
Maybe you have a reasonable approach!
Tell me!
Anyway, sorry I didn't respond more quickly. I am old and set in my ways, and xomba seems to have some holes in the notification process, or flags set where they should not be set. But I have serious moments too. (I used to be really judgmental. . . for example, but am less so now. . .)