Whales - Renewable Biological Oceanic Resource Case Study

Japan

• Partakes in quota whaling for "scientific research" since the moratorium
• Byproduct meat sold in markets or given to schools and hospitals for free
• 985 whales hunted per year in Southern Ocean Sanctuary before being ruled illegal
• 200 pregnant minke whales caught in the 2005/2006 hunting season
• 46% from an endangered stock of whales

Iceland

• Reservation to the moratorium since 2002
• 60 minke whales caught for "scientific reasearch" in 2006/2007
• Commercial whaling resumed in 2006 with a quota: 30 minke whales and 9 fin whales
• In 2010, 148 endangered fin whales were caught

Norway

• Resumed commercial whaling in 1993
• 6,879 minke whales taken since the objection
• Allocated quota of 1000 per year, although less than half are normally caught

Ship Strikes

• 10 whales died around the Californian coast in 2018

Noise Pollution & Chemical Pollution

• Whales use sound for: communcication, navigation, detecting predators and prey, atrracting mates and socialising
• Humans create sound by: seismic surveys, military sonar, underwater construction and ship sonar
• Ship engines can be heard up to 4000km away
• PCB, a highly toxic and banned (1981, in the UK) chemical is leaching into oceans
• Puts >50% of Orca groups at risk by entering the foodchains
• Soluble in fat, so passed to offsrping through mothers milk
• A colony of 8 off the coast of Scotland has not produced offspring in >20 years

Entanglement

• >300,000 whales and dolphins die globally

Reasons to Stop Whaling

• Price of whale meat has dropped in Japan from US$30/kg in 1994 to US$16.40 in 2006
• Whaling subsidies in Japan amount to US$164 million since 1988
• Consumption has dropped in Japan from 2000 grams per person in 1967 to 50 grams in 2005
• Sea Shepherd have attampted to stop Japanese hunting
• 74.6% of Icelanders have not bought whale meat in the past 12 months
• 50% of Icelands restaurants carry 'Whale Friendly' stickers

Solutions to Current Risks

• IFAW 'Whale Alert' app notifies mariners when they enter restricted speed areas or endangered whale habitats
• 'Watch Out, Whales About' programme in Australia promotes awareness among vessels
• Noise limits
• In the US, federal funds have been used to clear heavily contaminated PCB sites
• Sinking ropes and removing lost and damaged gear
• Freeing entangled whales

Whale Watching

• In 2008, 13 million took whale watching tours
• $2.1 billion created in expenditures
• Supports local communties

Subsistance Whaling

• Areas that partake include: Alaska and Greenland
• Does not seek to maximise catches or profit
• 'Needs Statement' created by the government
• Lack of clarity as each states needs are different