Why Whaling Should Be Banned

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.

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 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 conclusion, putting whales in captivity is a wrong act that needs to end. Whales are meant to be in the wild, to swim freely with their own pod, not be kept like a prisoner in a

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

Are times changing? Records dating back to the 1931-1932 whale-hunting season (ten years before the International Whaling Commission was put in place to protect and stop whaling), 28,325 blue whales were slaughtered. In 1946, the Whaling Commission was formed; however, even with protection, thirty years later (1963-1964) over 29,255 sperms kills were hunted for their meat and other products. Today, even with protection, it is estimated that only 5-10% of the original whale population remains (Carwardine, Hoyt, Fordyce, & Gill, 1998).

In my opinion, by doing this it would balance both whale hunting and whale watching and I do not feel people then would have any problem because they know that whale hunting cannot completely stop as so many people would lose their jobs but this would at least make it better for people who like whale watching. By limiting the amount of whale hunting, owners of fin whaling company like Kristjan Loftsson might lose some profit on the year but at least no one will be against them if they do not over hunt the whales. As Kristjan Loftsson believes “the world has wrongly turned against him”, just shows that he does think of other people’s opinions on whale hunting and if they set a quota to a reasonable number then people won’t have a problem and he would not think that the world is against him as he thinks now. People all around the world will not question the owners and they will still enjoy watching the whales for wild

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.

On one hand I completely agree with Japan, and Norway expressing their views on the exemption on cultural grounds from an international whaling ban, simply because of their sovereignty rights. There are a number of villagers that are dependent on whaling to provide food, and other necessity for their families. On the other hand, there are a host of negatives factors involved with mass killings of whales, for one it is inhumane to kill so many whales in such a short time period. Second, the slaughtering of an endangered and intelligent species for something as unnecessary as overpriced delicacies including whale oils. With that said, I believe that the economic impact has a big influence on my decision to agree with such a heinous crime to continue to allow whaling as long as it is properly regulated and that those regulations are

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

In my opinion, every species, including humans, is a part of the food chain. Whether or not humans are at the top of the food chain isn’t what is important when it comes to the relationship between us and whales. We have the technology and intelligence to kill whales and use them at important resources, including food, wax (for candles and cosmetics), and pharmaceuticals. We should be taking every advantage we get to further develop our knowledge of whale oil, meat, and cartilage. I believe that we should use every opportunity to better our lives, but that does not include kill whales recreationally. There is no excuse for that, just like there is no excuse for kills of dogs, zebras, or pandas. Unless it is for survival, no one should be killing an animal for “fun.” That saying, there is a point when we will have to stop commercial whaling. The whale population has been an interesting trend to research. Whale population has been very high and very low in the past couple centuries. My opinion is that we should have a set number of whales that we can take out of the ocean each year. If that number starts to cause a decline in the population, it should be set lower. If the population becomes endangered, I believe that whaling should stop immediately. I could imagine having to describe to the next generation what a whale looks like because there aren’t any to show

I do not agree with the Norwegian and Japanese position on permitting the hunting of non-endangered species of whales as a cultural exemption because I just don't approve of whaling in general. I can however see their point. For the majority of a population in a village to depend upon whaling as their main income and/or food source would be really difficult if it was banned. It would be a nice thing if their governments could help with job rehabilitation. Maybe even offer incentives to change their business venture. I feel like whaling is an archaic practice these days with so many other options to take place of the stuff harvested.

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).

Does the economic impact of whaling on the small fishing villages weigh into your decision?