Recently, pro-whaling countries (e.g., Japan, Norway, and Iceland) have advocated the increased "harvest" of whales as the populations of some whale species have risen in numbers. These countries are
1) We had a close family friend who spent his life researching whales so I learned a decent amount about the plight of the whales from him as a kid. As the WWF article pointed out, there are only about 2,300 blue whales left in the southern hemisphere which is a dangerously low number. Though it took a long time, the IWC did eventually work and whaling is now happening far less than it used to but it does not go far enough. For starters, whales are still being killed for "research" and ending up in markets. I can understand the importance of research to protect them, but this should be done without killing them wherever possible, and there should be far more regulation on it. But, this is not the only thing killing whales, many are hit by ships and caught in nets intended for other types of fish. We could significantly decrease these casualties by rerouting shipping routes so that they do not cross the whale's migratory paths and by increasing regulations on other types of fishing.
2) I think that if populations recover significantly then some nations could be allowed to catch whales. However, I emphasize significantly for a reason. The WWF article states that the blue whale population used to be 250,000 before whaling became an industry. I do not necessarily believe that the population would need to reach that same level but, I do think it should come fairly close. And, if it is allowed, it must be highly controlled. We have to understand that it takes a long time for a creature a large as a whale to reach maturity which means it takes them longer to re-populate. I also think that, if we ever want them to reach a level that would make it viable for us to fish them, we will have to take significantly more precautions to protect them until then.
3) I did watch the cove a few years after it came out but, since that was a while ago and I was fairly young, I don't remember many details, just a general sense of horror. I also saw Cowspiricy recently and, while the information presented is concerning, it was not anything new for me. While both the whaling and the livestock industry have serious negative effects on the environment, they are very different. At this point in time, I would say that the livestock industry has a more serious effect because it is far more prevalent than whaling.
The majority of people in the world get the majority of their animal protein from livestock and demand is only increasing with increasing population and higher rates of affluence. I do not want to discount the importance of biodiversity but, whales are just one family of species that we no longer rely on for any essential products so, if they went extinct, it would be terrible, but not significantly harmful to our survival. However, the raising of livestock creates massive amounts of methane which increases global warming. Runoff from the farms often contaminates nearby water sources. And, especially with cows, it is a highly inefficient food source that requires massive amounts of water and grain to produce just one pound of meat making it far more detrimental to the environment and our health than most people realize
4) I will definitely admit to some bias in this issue because I have been a vegetarian my whole life. I am one of the few, weird, people who legitimately does not enjoy eating meat so I can not appreciate the attachment that most people have to it. Where most people see their favorite food, I just see all the terrible things presented in documentaries like Cowspiracy. As far as whales are concerned, I probably also have some bias from being raised in a society that does not see whales as a culturally significant food source. However, I tried to take this into account when answering question 2 about the future possibilities of whaling.
