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=Clashes on The High Seas, Nations, whales, and culture.=

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The conflict: For centuries the Japanese have been killing whales for food as it is of their culture to eat whale however other nations namely Australia have been fighting Japanese whaling for many years. Frequently there is an exchange of words and at times physical clashes between people on either side. I want to bring everyone's attention to this as many whales are or will be on the endangered species list if this isn't brought to a resolution. Here are the issues from both sides.=====


 * Australia
 * Australia believes that Japan kill more than its quota of a thousand whales.
 * Australia claims that the Japanese kill the whales for food
 * Australia believes that the killing of whales must be stopped even if it is part of Japanese culture. Many whales are already on endangered species lists and Japanese whaling only makes the problem more real.
 * There have been incidents where activists have followed, photographed and physically boarded Japanese whaling ships sometimes violently in order to make their claims against Japan. || Japan
 * Japan insists that it kills far less than its quota because of activists such as Sea Shepard based in the U.S.
 * Japan claims that they kill the whales in order to do research. The Japanese believe that the whales are getting smaller because they don’t eat enough krill.
 * Japan believes that Australia does not fully understand the situation and that whaling is an important part of Japanese culture and food.
 * Japan believes that there ships should not be harassed and boarded as this is a violation of their rights. ||

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This has been a very serious conflict between Japan and Australia which doesn't seem to be going away. After doing lots of research on this, I feel that a compromise is possible.. Perhaps other countries that have quotas but don't use them or get close to them could give them to Japan so that the Japanese stay within the law and don't aggravate others. Another possibility is that whale populations be closely monitored and that the Japanese could rotate the kinds of whales they hunt so as to not threaten a specific specie of whale.Some people in Japan believe that the whale is a symbol of good luck and should not be hunted. The Japanese government could start a campaign that encourages less killing and consumption of whale meat. Countries and their cultures are sometimes so different that they are a source of conflict. This is what is happening between Japan and Australia.