whaling

Gray whale killed by Makah tribe members in surprise hunt

Photo: bbum A gray whale was harpooned off the coast of Washington state this weekend in a surprise hunt by members of the Makah tribe. The tribe does have hard-won treaty rights to conduct whale hunts, but this weekend’s kill was not sanctioned since the tribe has not yet succeeded in obtaining a necessary waiver […]

Iceland announces it will reinstate whaling ban next year

Rejoining the 21st century is Iceland, who after lifting its 10-year-old whaling ban just a year ago, announced it will reinstate the ban for the coming season because the whaling market just isn't as lucrative as it used to be.

The Iceland announcement marks a victory for whales, though many obstacles remain. Bycatch still threatens the survival of many smaller whale species and sonar disorients whales, which use sound to communicate and to navigate their migration routes.

The Invisible Hand Drops Its Harpoon

Iceland halts whale hunt due to low demand After resuming commercial whaling just under a year ago, Iceland’s fisheries minister said recently that his country will not issue new whale-hunting quotas until there’s more demand for whale-derived products and until Iceland gets an export license to send whale meat to Japan. “There is no reason […]

Just Say Noh

Forty nations condemn Japan’s “scientific” whale hunt The International Whaling Commission has been meeting in Anchorage this week, and as always, Japan is making a splash. Yesterday saw fierce debate over a resolution condemning that country’s “scientific hunt,” in which it’s allowed to kill about 1,000 Antarctic whales. The resolution, sponsored by New Zealand, ultimately […]

Nisshin Accomplished

Burned out of business, Japan calls a halt to its annual whale hunt Japan’s whaling fleet, unable to recover from a mid-February fire that killed a crew member and disabled its main ship, has called off its controversial annual hunt a month early. While protesters expressed sympathy for the human loss, they also did a […]

Sending Out an SOS

Protesters ask whalers for help in missing-persons search The bone-chilling waters of Antarctica are seeing heated conflict as the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society tangles with Japanese whalers. The protesters, upset over a 1,000-whale hunt they deem illegal — but which was OK’d by the International Whaling Commission as a scientific pursuit — have dumped […]

Is banning horse slaughter like banning whaling?

There is a new bill to ban horse slaughter in the U.S. This article argues it's arbitrary and based on a special-interest lobby.

Possible Whaling Majority at the IWC

The International Whaling Commission will gather this Friday in St. Kitts for its annual meeting. For 20 years now, Japan and other pro-whaling nations have done everything in their power to convince the IWC to reverse the whaling moratorium it set back in the '80s.

What remains a mystery is why Japan is so obsessed with the resumption of whaling. Recent polls suggest that fewer than half of Japanese people have ever tried whale meat, and just 1% eat it regularly. Over 2,000 supermarkets have stopped selling it in the last few years, due to lack of demand.

A Bid for a Whale, and It’s About to Set Sail

Japan may have enough votes to set stage for repeal of whaling ban The end of the 20-year-old global commercial-whaling ban is a looming possibility, as pro-whaling Japan may have garnered enough allies to win control of the 66-member International Whaling Commission. The IWC’s pro-whaling contingent now numbers about 35 countries, including some which have […]