Should Whaling Be Allowed

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.

The parties involved in this matter are the members of the tribe, both for and against the decision, the whales, the environmentalists, the courts that will settle the lawsuits and future generations that might be affected by any decision in regards to the impact on the whales sustainability. The decision at stake here is whether it is moral to revoke the ban and recent tradition,

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

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.

Their purpose is to prevent the overhunting of whales, however, their regulations were loose and the quotas were high (Marrero and Thornton 2011). Whales continued to perish. The IWC ultimately created whale free sanctuaries in the Indian Ocean (1979) and the ocean surrounding Antarctica (1994). In 1982, the IWC called for a moratorium on commercial whaling, but both Norway and Japan voted against this policy (Marrero and Thornton 2011). Today, Norway supports hunting minke whales for meat, while Japan allows whaling for scientific purposes, which many experts question. Despite the general moratorium, limited whaling is permitted to indigenous cultures that have traditionally hunted. According to Dave Weller, a research biologist at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, he says Pacific gray whale populations have recovered (Marrero and Thornton 2011). Aside from the moratorium, the IWC has collected valuable data and provide analysis that helps researchers understand the status of various whale

According to Greenpeace, “up to 80% of [Japanese] respondents disagreed with whaling on the high seas. And 85% said they did not know endangered species were being hunted by Japanese ships in the Antarctic Ocean”(Ganderton, 2014). More than that, both Japan and Norway have significantly declining sales of whale meat. The impact of whaling on small fishing villages might impact my opinion on this issue, but I don’t think the impact is significant enough to warrant whaling, especially when, for example in Norway, the government has to subsidize the whaling industry because they can’t sell enough meat to

The endangerment of the Blue whale has come as a result of not only direct harm such as hunting, but also indirect factors like environmental changes and boat collisions. However, none have drove the Blue whale to endangerment as much as commercial whaling, which is still practiced today by three remaining countries: Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Through various controversial studies on whether whaling should be illegal word wide, one must constantly question the importance of the Blue Whale for success of the planet’s future.

Since the dawn of civilization, humans ruled earth, taking what they pleased without worrying about the consequences. Modern society has evolved to understand the fundamental flaw in consuming the world’s resources with abandon. As with the hunting of many other species, whaling was an unregulated activity. However, in 1986, the world community shifted its stance on whaling and passed international legislation banning commercial whaling. Dangerously close to being snuffed out, the whales have begun to claw their way back from extinction. Despite the positive strides taken on the behalf of whales, the murder of thousands of whales each year is sanctioned by a number of countries under the guise of scientific research. Moreover, in many

Hunting whales was not on an industrial scale until the 1890’s, and continued until the International Whaling Commission took effect in 1986. The article refers to the unsustainability of whaling commercially. The number of whales in our oceans has been rapidly reducing in the years that humans have had access to commercial whaling ships. Hunting an endangered species is highly unethical, because we could, within a generation or two, see the fall of the largest beings alive today. The whales in our oceans belong to the whole world and not just to Japan and Norway. Even with the restrictions by the IWC, Japan still continues for “Scientific Research”. Scientific Research has recently been deemed illegal in the Arctic water, but they have completely disregarded all sanctions put against them to try and stop the unethical whaling.

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 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.

Getting rid of the protection the humpback whales now have would mean that ships and fishermen could get by with hitting or killing a whale or producing too high of noise levels in certain underwater areas. The changes to end humpback whale protection is being suggested due to the fact that scientists claim there are now tens of thousands of humpbacks now vs. only a few thousand back in the 70s when they were originally put on the Endangered list.

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

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.

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