The Interesting Industry of Japanese Whaling Essay

The debate surrounding Makah whaling is a heated one to say the least. There are valid points on both sides of the argument, but there is one side I find to be more valid once the facts have been looked at. I will examine and present my findings regarding past and current laws and regulations related to whaling, types of whaling, other countries that take an active part in whaling (and why), as well as the Makah culture – both past and present. In this paper I will argue why the Makah should not be allowed to resume whaling, as it is unnecessary and could potentially put the grey whale species back on the endangered list.

Did you know that in the last 50 years over two million whales have been killed? The United States views whaling very differently than Japan does. It is a complicated and controversial topic. Many people have opinions about whale hunting. However, everyone should know both sides of the whale hunting issues before they act on the issue. To start out I am going to tell you a little about whaling. The first whale hunters were in the prehistoric times. At first they would just kill and eat beached whales. That became such a habit that they started hunting them. Most whale hunters use harpoons, guns, lances, or bombs that blow up inside the whale. They use catcher boats, or kayaks. In 1925, whalers developed

The Japanese whaling industry has thrived and flourished since its origin. The Japanese have depended on whales such as the blue, fin, sei, and humpback whales. The issue at hand is that the demand for whale products and byproducts is so large that the numbers of these types of whales has declined to near extinction levels. Without any care to the harm being done, the Japanese whaling industry has not shown any sign of remorse towards this actions little has been done by the international community’s to put an end to the elimination of these large and peaceful creatures. There have been small groups of anti- whaling conservation. The groups have had many victories along the way by using their non- traditional methods and sometimes generating violent tension between them and the whaling ships while in international waters.

What exactly happened in the whaling industry that had such a detrimental effect on the whale populations?

Why are dolphins looked differently than whales? Could it be that when the International Whaling Commission was formed; it was formed by nations that would like to keep whaling alive? This could be the reason why the smaller Cetaceans are not protected under the ruling of the IWC. In every meeting that the IWC have, the Japanese keep trying to make whaling legal. At the cove, they don’t allow pictures to be taken. That is because they are hiding something illegal. Even when the IWC starts to act on this, it will take them a very long time because there are a lot of governments meeting at once. They cannot come to terms on a problem and even more so when they are focusing on the wrong group of whales that are being

The increase in the fishing industry could be due to any number of things such as the weather, the time of year, or even the lack of a whale’s presence. It does not suggest that the whales are consuming the fish or that they are depleting important fish populations. Also, it has been proven that commercial whaling does impact the whaling industries in pro whaling countries. If money is the end goal for some of these countries they could just adopt the whale watching industry rather than commercial whaling because in the end, due to conservation movements, it will probably be making more money. If Japan wants to continue whaling under scientific research pretenses, then I’m sure they can find more humane and less invasive ways to collect data such as studying beached or already dead whales rather than killing them, as well as taking samples from live whales using minimally invasive techniques. Furthermore, in countries such as Norway who commercially whale specifically for the meat for human consumption, well they should be required to put warning labels on whale meat detailing how the animal was killed as well as how much mercury the meat

The exploitation of whales and fish after 1920 was massive and without control. The Discovery Investigation was a committee formed by the British government with the purpose to make recommendations about sustainable whaling to prevent the collapse of whales. It started in 1925 and provide information about the amount of whales caught. During this time the commercial interest of the whales and the fishery dictated the behaviour of the whalers and fishers (Brandon and Clark, 2009).

Whale hunting is a very controversial issue. Some argue that it is morally wrong to hunt an animal with such a high level of intelligence, some argue that whales shouldn’t be hunting due to their dwindling numbers and their risk for extinction, and others argue that it is the only means of food for some indigenous people who have been hunting whales for centuries. I personally, am against commercial whaling, but do understand the IWC’s (International Whaling Commission) catch limits for aboriginal subsistence whaling.

The Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting and preserving marine wildlife and its habitats. The Ocean Conservancy was founded in 1972 as the Delta Corporation. One of the Ocean Conservancy’s first priorities was starting the ‘Whale Protection Fund’, which advocated for the saving of whales from hunters and protesting commercial whaling by countries in Asia and Europe. The organization realized that they had to raise support from the public to invest in scientific research. Soon, they were able to spread the message and raise awareness about the whaling industry. The organization’s effort paid off in 1982, when the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling.

To provide an overview of the whaling dispute, definition of whaling activities and moratorium will be explained in details, complementary with the overall history of whaling activities in various nations.

They feel that the IWC has become a conservation organization, where it was originally meant to be a regulatory agency for whaling (Schweder 2001). There have been accusations of the commission being purposely “uncertain” of the status of whales to keep the moratorium in effect, when in reality we know enough to open a sustainable fishery (Schweder 2001). There have been studies on both fin and minke whales indicating that a fishery would be sustainable. Fin whales populations off Iceland appear to be increasing at 4% per year, and minke populations off both Iceland and Norway appear to be stable, though it should be noted that the IWC indicates that fin whale populations in the northeast Atlantic haven’t been thoroughly assessed (Borchers et al. 2009, Vikingsson et al. 2009). The Marine Research Institute of Iceland has calculated that up to 150 fin whales and 400 minke whales can be sustainably harvested per year (Icelandic Fisheries 2014). Because fin whale populations are stable around Iceland, the government does not consider their IUCN listing as “endangered” relevant to their hunting status. A 1998 modeling study on minke whales in Norway showed potential population growth from 63,033 in 1995 to 70,733 in 2010 if 600 whales were taken every year (Bjorndal and Conrad 1998). Though Norway has increased their quota to 1,286, the number of minkes killed in a given year has not exceeded 600 individuals (IWC 2014). These potential harvest numbers are considered conservative, since the sighting methods used to estimate abundance were also conservative in nature. Neither Iceland nor Norway has exceeded their self imposed annual quotas since the quotas’ inception (IWC

Commercial whaling is a serious world issue that has always been difficult for those who are in support and those who are against it. Each group defends their side with convincing arguments. Morally, whaling is wrong, but do the reasons for whaling outweigh the reasons to cease the primitive hunts? By studying the effects of whaling,realizing how culture has changed over time, and taking note of the money that would be saved, it can clearly be seen that there is no longer a current need for whaling to continue. Efforts have been made to try to stop whaling, but with no help from any authoritative figure,nothing has been done to regulate the whaling. The famous sea shepherd, known for its strikes against whaling, can even be seen on

Supposedly, in Japan, the whales are killed for their meat for science however they were instead being sold in food markets or even given away for free to hospitals and schools. This encourages the consumption of whale meat. The Japanese kill many different types of whales for example, 200 minke whales, 100 sei whales, 50 bryde’s and 10 sperm whales under scientific research. There is also Norway, which didn’t respect the IWC ban until 1993 as they continued hunting for minke whales. Norway has a fixed number of whalers its whalers are permitted to kill for commercial reasons.

Do you agree with the Norwegian and Japanese position on permitting the hunting of non-endangered species of whales as a cultural exemption?

After careful consideration on the topic of whaling I believe, that there should be no exemption made for Norway or Japan in regards to commercial whaling. There are currently exemptions to the bans for Inuit, which can be seen as a cultural exemption, though reliance on whaling for food is also a large factor here. To me, this also makes the difference. While there would be no immediate threat to the whale's populations, the practice is perceived as cruel and outrages many people. At the same time, I am uncomfortable to forbid something just because people dislike it. Therefore I would personally be most satisfied with a middle ground solution, for example centralizing the whaling so that no single nation, but an international authority would supply the quota of whale meat to the nations in question. Actually resolving this matter seems highly controversial though, since anybody willing to contribute to the discussion, has strong opinions on it. Using oceangoing trawler factories to cross half the globe does not present the continuation of a traditional practice but rather the commercialization of a cultural activity. While I belive the cultural activity needs consideration to allow nations leeway, I don't belive a nation has the inherent right to take from the planet as they please.