The Whaling Ban Should Not Be Lifted

The Whaling Ban Should Not Be Lifted

In this essay, I will argue that Japan and Norway should not continue whaling and trading in whale meat. Each year, Japan kills around 700 whales for what it claims is research, while the meat is being sold in restaurants and shops. If there are to be whales at all for future generations to enjoy, then this excessive whaling has got to stop. Not only is Japan over-whaling, it is importing cheaper whale meat from Norway because of its cheaper prices. The hunting of whales is outlawed internationally, except of course by Japan and Norway. Whales are an endangered species, and the remaining whales should not belong to just Japan and Norway.

In 1986, the International Whaling Committee passed a ban on whaling, which Japan and Norway failed to recognise, although Norway only began whaling in 1993. The international community is outraged that Japan is importing whale meat from Norway on the eve of another meeting of the IWC to be held in Tokyo, Japan!

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.

The high prices on Japanese whale meat are due to the rapidly decreasing numbers of whales in the Pacific and Antarctica. Japan is being forced to break the law even further by importing, because of its own overwhaling in the first place. The price of locally caught whale is around forty Australian dollars and has become a luxury in recent years for the Japanese. And, last summer, all the whale meat to be sold in shops was not bought, so are the Japanese losing a taste for the whale?