Right: Defiance: Japanese Parliamentarians provide a photo opportunity to support the whaling industry and to encourage the consumption of whale meat.
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Arguments against Japan resuming commercial whaling
1. Many whale species numbers are low
Opponents of a resumption of commercial whaling note that as a result of this practice many whale species were driven to the brink of extinction and that even now many of their numbers are recovering slowly. Renewed commercial hunting is condemned as an unnecessary pressure on many whale species. Of particular concern to whale conservationists is that if Japan resumes commercial whaling within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the whales in this region will be threatened as their numbers are low. The International Whaling Commission makes the following data available on the status of the whale species named.
Blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere were reduced to only a few percent of their unexploited stock size by industrial whaling in the Southern Ocean, primarily during the 1920s-1940s. They remain at very low levels - in the low thousands - with current figures suggesting an annual growth rate of 8 percent
Blue whales in the North Atlantic were also exploited heavily. Available evidence suggests there are around 1,000 animals off Iceland and several hundred in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
There is insufficient data available regarding blue whale status in most parts of the North Pacific although there is evidence of an increase rate of about 3 percent for the Gulf of California. Blue whales in the eastern tropical Pacific are thought to number around 3,000.
Humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere were heavily exploited by commercial whaling primarily from the 1920s-1950s in both their Southern Ocean feeding grounds and in their tropical breeding grounds. Whales have shown evidence of strong recovery towards their unexploited size in a number of areas. However, there is no evidence of recovery for populations in some areas such as Oceania, where there may be as few as 2,000 animals. The total Southern Hemisphere number is probably about 60,000.
Humpback whales in the North Pacific were also heavily exploited and again have shown positive increase rates in most areas for which there are data. Total North Pacific numbers are estimated at over 17,000.
Fin whale populations in the Southern Hemisphere were heavily exploited by industrial whaling in the Southern Ocean, especially between the 1930s and 1960s. The existing estimates are of the order of several thousand animals. Pre-exploitation numbers have been estimated at 200,000. Partial estimates for the eastern North Pacific reveal around 10,000 animals with some evidence of annual increase rates of 4-5percent.
Commercial exploitation of Antarctic minke whales (the smallest of the large whales) began in the early 1970s, much later than the other large whale species. There are several hundred thousand Antarctic minke whales and thus they are not endangered. However, there has been an appreciable decline in their estimated abundance between the multi-year circumpolar surveys conducted between 1982/83-1988/89 and 1991/92-2003/04
Of particular concern to whale conservationists is that Japanese whaling will now be restricted to Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, where species have shown a slow rate of recovery. In an opinion piece published on the ABC on December 31m 2018, written by Peter Bridgewater, Chair of the IWC from 1995-1998 and now adjunct professor at the University of Canberra, Professor Bridgewater stated, 'The problem is that for whaling in the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the scientific evidence suggests that stock levels are low, and do not show the levels of robust recovery seen elsewhere. So, while there is a gain for whales in the Southern Ocean (where it's least needed), the threat to northern Pacific populations increases.'
2. Whales are a highly intelligent species that cannot be hunted humanely
According to a 2014 IWC report on whale welfare, it is difficult to ensure an instant and therefore painless death, even when performing a 'mercy killing' on a stranded whale that cannot be rescued. For instance, New Zealand reported that several stranded pilot whales required 'multiple gunshots' over two to four minutes.
When it comes to hunting moving whales in open water, the process of killing can become much more drawn-out. According to the IWC, Greenland's minke whale hunt achieved instant deaths no more than 30% of the time, while humpback whales took 13-15 minutes to die. Russia reported that gray whales took an average of 35 minutes.
New Zealand research have similarly demonstrated that an explosive-tipped harpoon fired from a cannon on a moving vessel at a moving, partly submerged, unsecured animal is unlikely to lead consistently to instantaneous death. In the 2002 Norwegian minke whale hunt, 20 percent of whales were recorded as not dying instantaneously. In the Japanese 'scientific whaling' hunt for minke whales in Antarctica, 60 percent of whales do not die instantaneously.
In addition to the length of time it is likely to take for a harpooned whale to die, researchers have claimed that whales have a level of cognitive functioning and awareness which means that they are not only capable of registering pain, but endure suffering as a result.
Georges Chapouthier, a neurobiologist and director of the Emotion Centre at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, has stated, 'Suffering supposes a certain level of cognitive functioning. It is difficult to define what that level is, but there's a lot of data now to suggest some higher mammals have it, including great apes, dolphins and, most likely, whales.'
Recent studies of whale and dolphin brains has provided insights into how these animals have evolved and the processing skills for which their brains have adapted. Dr Lori Marino, a leading researcher in whale and dolphin brain anatomy, has stated, 'Despite the vast differences in cortical organization cetaceans (the collective name for all whales, dolphins and porpoises) and humans (as well as great apes) share a number of complex cognitive abilities, such as self-recognition... These similarities, importantly, mean that cetaceans, as humans, are vulnerable to emotional and social stresses that can lead to considerable harm. This important point is critical to guiding the ethics of how we interact with and treat cetaceans.'
Some scientists have described the exhibition of specific emotions, such as grief, in some whale and dolphin species. Giovanni Bearzi of Dolphin Biology and Conservation, a non-profit organisation that studies and advocates for dolphins, collected 78 scientific reports of grief-like displays in cetaceans described between 1970 and 2016. Of the 88 cetacean species currently known, they found 20 had been observed showing signs of grief, referred to in Bearzi's study as 'post-mortem attentive behaviour'. Most grief behaviours, 75 percent, were recorded in females mourning their calves
Opponents of whaling have further argued that not only does whaling cause pain and distress to the animals being killed, the whale's death also causes distress to the other members of its pod who witness its death. Jeff Hansen, managing director of Sea Shepherd in Australia, has stated, 'And that's not to mention that they are killing them with their family members, with their pods having to witness their family members screaming out in pain.'
3. Whale meat is not favoured by most Japanese consumers
Opponents of Japan's decision to recommence commercial whaling argue that from a food security point of view it is an unnecessary and pointless decision as the vast majority of Japanese do not eat whale meat.
Though Japan has a long history of whale hunting, critics of the practice note that it has not formed a significant part of the country's traditional diet. Before World War II whale consumption was relatively insignificant at 10,000 tonnes a year in 1922-23.
Whale meat consumption was fostered after World War II when a General McArthur encouraged a reestablishment of whaling on an industrial basis to meet the needs of a war-ravaged country unable to feed its population. Whale meat soon reached 47 percent of postwar protein intake and by 1962 whale meat consumption was 220,000 tonnes a year. However, increasing prosperity and the ever-growing availability of imported meats has seen a long-term decline in whale meat as a significant and preferred part of the Japanese diet, especially among the young. Kazuhiko Kobayashi, an agronomy professor and the co-author of Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts, has stated, ' Whale has lost its position among the animal meats, and will belong more to the category of curious foods for the predominant majority of Japanese.'
Nanami Kurasawa of the Iruka and Kujira (dolphin and whale) Action Network (IKAN) has stated, 'Actually many (regular) people don't have any interest in whales or whaling now in Japan.' Mr Kurasawa also stated that eating whale is becoming 'less and less popular'.
According to Aimee Leslie, global lead for cetaceans and marine turtles for WWF, the number of people in Japan who regularly eat whale meat is very small.
Motoji Nagasawa, Greenpeace's whale campaigner in Japan, said: 'The government has been spending a lot of money spreading misinformation that whaling is an important national interest, and all Japanese want it. But that is the opposite of the truth. Whale meat is sold in limited areas in Japan. I've no idea where to buy whale meat - it's not in the supermarkets. We now have so many other sources of food, we do not need whale meat.' For most Japanese, whaling is not a significant issue. A Mori poll for Greenpeace showed that 10 per cent of Japanese supported commercial whaling, 14 per cent were opposed and the rest had no opinion. '
A 2006 poll commissioned by Greenpeace and conducted by the independent Nippon Research Centre found that 95 percent of Japanese people very rarely or never eat whale meat. And the amount of uneaten frozen whale meat stockpiled in Japan has doubled to 4,600 tons between 2002 and 2012.
In 2013, nine of 10 Japanese said they hadn't bought whale meat in the past year, leading to thousands of tons of the meat being stockpiled, according to a survey commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). One survey showed that 65 percent of Japanese people have never eaten whale, and for most of those that had, it was only as a schoolchild. In another survey of Japanese people released in 2014, only 4 percent of respondents said they ate whale meat occasionally, compared to 37 percent who said they did not eat it at all.
Aimee Leslie has claimed that the diminishing market for whale meat in Japan means that it is only government subsidies that keep the industry alive.
Whaling is also economically insignificant. There are only four traditional whaling villages, with five boats between them. The ban on commercial whaling led to a loss of just 450 jobs, and the current total market is 2,000 tonnes of minke whale meat a year, with a retail value of just S70m.
4. Whale watching can make a larger contribution to the Japanese economy
Opponents of commercial whaling argue that the practice could be replaced by whale watching, which could be particularly valuable in rural and coastal communities without the range of employment options available in cities such as Tokyo.
Critics of whaling note that whale watching is a significant tourist industry worldwide with a total economic impact of $2.1 billion across 120 countries, according to an IFAW report.
The report, which examined whale watching in Japan and Iceland, demonstrated that whale watching participation grew from 9 million tourists in 2001 to 13 million in 2008, with revenues rising from $1 billion to $2.1 billion per annum over that period. Japan already has a robust whale-watching industry. Established in the 1980s, it now includes some 200 tour operators who served more than 200,000 tourists in 2013. And with a yearly growth rate of 6 percent, Japan is in the top 10 percent of the global whale-watching market. Matthew Collis, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, has stated, 'Those very same people who operate in boats out of these fishing villages to go whaling have the same means at their disposal potentially for operating whale-watching businesses.' It has been suggested that the economic benefits of whale watching are potentially far greater than those offered by whale, which is currently in decline and supported by government subsidies. IFAW whale specialist, Patrick Ramage, has stated, 'The economic benefits [of whale watching] are much more widespread than the meagre funds associated with whaling, which is actually an activity heavily subsidised by the government. [Whaling] doesn't pay its own way anymore. '
The potential for whale watching to displace whale hunting is being shown in Iceland, which is one of three countries, together with Norway and soon Japan, where commercial whaling is practised. In Husavik, a bay in the north of the country, or in the Faxafloi Bay near the capital Reykjavik, more than 355,000 people went whale watching in 2016.That was an increase of 30 per cent over 2015 and four times more than a decade ago. The whaling industry, on the other hand, appears to be in potential decline. Whalers have in recent years consistently failed to meet their quotas of kills - typically around 200. Warmer waters are pushing the whales to follow the mackerel, their main source of food, closer to Greenland where the water is colder.
In an opinion piece published in The Conversation on February 19, 2012, Stephen Wearing, Associate Professor, Management, University of Technology Sydney stated, 'The state-supported whaling industry in Japan has made consistent losses over the past 20 years - an estimated US$223 million since 1988 - and amassed a stockpile of whale meat estimated at 4000 tonnes in 2010.
In Iceland, where the whale hunt has been supported from other fishing industry profits, whale watching is growing faster than it is in the rest of Europe, averaging 17percent per annum. In 2010, whale watching's total economic contribution was estimated at US$16.4 million.'
Professor Wearing concluded, 'In both countries, successful whale watching businesses have been launched out of former whaling and fishing ports, offering an alternative economy for those communities.'
5. Japan's departure from the IWC threatens the international regulation of whaling
Some critics of Japan's decision to leave the IWC argue that the action puts Japanese whaling outside international regulation, increasing the likelihood that whale species may be hunted without proper regard for their conservation status. There is concern that Japan' action may prompt imitators and that the continued existence of the IWC may be at risk.
Kitty Block, president of Humane Society International (HSI) has stated, 'By leaving the International Whaling Commission but continuing to kill whales commercially, Japan now becomes a pirate whaling nation killing these ocean leviathans completely outside the bounds of international law.'
Block summed up the attitude of the HSI toward Japan's current actions as, 'This is the path of a pirate whaling nation, with a troubling disregard for international rule.'
Astrid Fuchs, programme lead at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, has similarly stated, 'The oversight that the IWC was having over Japan's whaling will now be lost. We won't know how many whales they are catching, we won't know how they will report it. It might spell doom for some populations. There is an endangered population of Minke whales off Japan, which is already under threat.'
Japan's current whaling practices conducted in the name of supposed scientific research have already faced large-scale international censure after Japan reported in early 2018 that its whaling fleet had killed 122 pregnant whales during its annual research hunt in the Southern Ocean last winter. Of the 333 minke whales caught during the four-month expedition, 181 were female - including 53 juveniles.
There is also concern that the action of Japan in leaving the IWC will encourage some other current members to do likewise and so increase unregulated whaling in other areas.
Astrid Fuchs has stated, 'We are very worried that it might set a precedent and that other countries might follow Japan's lead and leave the commission ... especially South Korea where there is an interest in consuming whale meat.'
Others have expressed concern that Japan's withdrawal could threaten the IWC's continued existence. Australian Marine Conservation Society chief executive, Darren Kindleysides, has stated, 'Japan has failed to bully the IWC into permitting a return to the cruel and outdated industrial whaling of the past. Japan has failed to persuade the international courts to allow them to kill whales under the guise of scientific research. So now Japan is reportedly threatening to turn their back on international efforts to control whaling and conserve whales.
Leaving the IWC would set a very dangerous precedent for other international treaties and conventions. Not satisfied with harpooning whales, it now looks like Japan is threatening to harpoon the future of the IWC.'