Cetacean Research: Whaling In Japan

Whaling is an old and inhumane practice that should be stopped. In fact the act of commercial whaling is illegal under international law. Japan still continues this practice today, despite orders to stop given to the Japanese government by the UN’s International Court of Justice in March of 2014 (WDC). Even before that ruling Japan has been asked by the international community to stop whaling, but they continued to do so through a loop hole in the International Whaling Commission or IWC. That hole about the size of a loop, says that whaling for scientific research is legal. The Japanese government should stop illegal practice of whaling because it is inhumane, these whales will go extinct if this continues, and we the international community have already asked for this to stop.

Did you know that roughly three million whales were slaughtered in the twentieth century alone? Or that there are only around four hundred North Atlantic right whales alive today because they never fully recovered from being hunted? These whales are known as “right” whales because they are large and slow, with thick blubber that yields lots of oil plus they remain afloat after they've been killed, this simplifies the whole hunting process for everyone . Furthermore, the hunters got more money for less work. I believe that whaling is a vile and pointless thing to do to such beautiful creatures and that the International Whaling Commission should look further into the use of whales for research.

In the 1800s the Northern Right Whales were killed mainly because their bodies have oily fat, which was used as a fuel at the time, they were also killed to make umbrellas, and whips (Endangered wildlife of the world). Other reasons for the Northern Right Whale being endangered is due to habitat pollution, Toxins, Climate and ecosystem change, Ruckus from whale-watching activities and noise from industrial activities. Also the death of the whales now is due to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear has limited the population’s recovery

I do not agree with Japan and Norway since all global agreements should be followed. Allowing these nations to continue whaling despite all other countries complying may lead to a dangerous precedent where many nations living with endangered species like Lions and elephants will also follow suit and demand exemption

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.

Every year about 1,500 whales are killed between Japan, Norway, and Iceland: they kill them for the whale oil and the whale meat to eat. These countries need to stop killing all of these whales every year. Whales can be very important to the ocean. Many of these countries kill whales for the material. People should not be able to kill whales. It is good for tourists to go watch them swim. Also whales can be helpful to the environment in a couple of ways.

In 1946 the newly formed International Whaling Commission enacted a global moratorium on commercial whaling (Robbins). The IWC was formed in hopes of protecting whales and making sure that whales were spared. Without enforcement of the rules and restrictions for any nations, the problem has not gone away. Without whales the ecosystem begins to falter, the whale being one of the vital producers, and consumers of the ocean. There are countries that refused to agree to the terms of the moratorium, regardless of the damage such actions would cause. The moratorium permits whaling for scientific research, and that is the mask current whaling countries hide behind (Zelko). They argue that they are not violating any restrictions, because Article 8 of the 1946 moratorium states that whaling for scientific research is not part of the agreement (McCurry). During the 1970’s people began to care about the whales that were being killed faster than they could reproduce (Robbins). In 1986 whaling was officially banned, some nations ignored the ban, and still do. In 1993, meat DNA tested at a fish market in Japan showed that whale meat was clearly being sold, but there were no consequences. The ban made by the IWC is not

It is evident that whaling practices can lead to a reduction in the population of whales, ecosystem degradation, and even cause the species to the brink of extinction (International Whaling Commission, n.d.). The main factors causing the problem are over-exploitation, disturbance from whaling vessels, entanglement in fishing gears, and environmental factors (International Whaling Commission, n.d.). According to the WDC (n.d.), more than 36,700 whales were killed after the 1986 moratorium in which Japan accounted for nearly 20,000 whales. The International Whaling Commission (n.d.) reported that the common whales hunted by Japanese, which are Minke, Fin, Sei, Sperm, Bryde’s and Humpback whales, were severely exploited and depleting in terms of population in the Japanese whaling grounds before the 1986 moratorium. In addition, the operation of whaling fleets apparently causing noise pollution affecting the communication process of whales and other marine species as well (Lian & Lu, n.d.). Whales are one of the top-level animals in the marine food chain, therefore, a decline in whale population definitely have an impact on the marine ecosystem. Lian and Lu (n.d.), have said that whale’s dead body is a great source of food for the marine animals in a lower depth of the ocean. Thus, the more whales killed by whaling practices, the less food for others sea creatures and organisms (Lian & Lu, n.d.). Also, nutrients in

Right after the IWC launched their whaling ban in 1986, Japan started labeling their whaling as research to cover up their commercial whaling efforts. The meat from the whales killed is then sold for cheap or for free even in markets throughout the country. Norway still whales and didn’t follow the IWC ban for any more than seven years. They found a loop hole in the ban and now hunt minke whales. They have also began looking for minke breeding-females which will severely endanger the survival of the minke whale as a species in the Atlantic Ocean. Iceland was one of the countries apart of the IWC, however, they didn’t stay a part of it for long, and in 1992 Iceland left the IWC. When they rejoined in 2004, they added a rider into their contract about how they were not “for” the IWC whaling moratorium. In 2006, Iceland began to commercial whale again and has since killed 148 endangered fin whales and 60 minke whales (International Fund for Animal Welfare).

In 2015, a program states 333 minke whales need to be killed for 12 years started. That’s about 4,000 whales that will be killed. Originally, whaling was used as a way to collect resources. The meat from whales were considered delicacies. Oil from whale blubber can be used as oil lamps or candles. Whales that are killed today are needed for scientific purposes like information on how to manage and conserve whales in captivity. However it isn’t necessary to kill so many whales to obtain information like management and conservation. Whaling should be banned because whales are no longer needed for their resources and aren’t used for scientific reasons.

Whaling is defined as hunting and killing of whales by humans for resources, mainly meat, blubber and baleen (whalebone) obtained from whales. These resources are then sold for commercial purposes and thus, whaling has become economical important for centuries (Joanne 2007; The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2007). Scientific whaling is conducted by hunting whales for research purposes and further analysis to study on whale’s behaviour, characteristics and distribution (Joanne 2007). Commercial whaling is a controversial whaling practice that exploits whale products for trade and profit. Recently, Japan, Norway and Iceland are the major contributors of commercial whaling and deeply support any other whaling activities (Joanne 2007). Moratorium on commercial whaling 1986 is a global ban of hunting whales for commercial purposes, implemented by International Whaling Commission (IWC). Under Article VIII, unlimited scientific research is permitted but sufficient data and analysis are required by Science Committee set up by IWC (Papastavrou 2006).

Whales are one of the many unique species and play a vital role in the marine ecosystem, but sadly these species are suffering and are about to be driven to extinction, all because of whaling. This is something that should be prevented at all cost because the extinction of whales will disrupt the ecosystem and it is a very cruel act towards peaceful organisms, such as whales.

What is the IWC? In 1946, whaling nations established the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in order to prohibit the killing of certain endangered whale species, set quotas and minimum size for whales caught commercially and regulate the whaling seasons. This convention was not an environmental agreement, but a club of whaling nations to regulate the practice of catching whales. The International Whaling Commission, (IWC), was the decision making body in charge of the regime and was tasked with the duty of protecting this marine species. Unfortunately, not only was the IWC largely toothless in terms of enforcing their rules, many of their actions were actually counterproductive. The IWC would met in secret to haggle over quotas that were set so high more whales were being killed than before the convention and the total number of whales killed doubled between 1951 and 1962. Even worse, while the major whaling nations were members of the IWC, many developing countries refused to join or abide by its decisions and even went so far as to allow pirate whalers who sold their products to Japan to operate within their territories. Overall, the IWC was largely ineffective until the blue whale became endangered in the 1960’s.

Do you agree with the Norwegian and Japanese position on permitting the hunting of non-endangered species of whales as a cultural exemption. Do you think the whaling ban constitutes a violation of these nations' sovereignty?

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.