A case study on Whaling

A. Introduction:

1. Brief overview of the history and context of Whaling:

Whaling is the hunting of whales for their meat, oil, and other valuable products. This
practice has a long history and was once an important part of the global economy.
However, over time, concerns about the sustainability of whaling and the impact on
whale populations have led to increased regulation and a decline in the industry.
Contemporary whaling for whale meat is subject to intense debate. Canada, Iceland,
Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, the United States and the Danish dependencies of
the Faroe Islands and Greenland continue to hunt in the 21st century. Countries that
support commercial whaling, notably Iceland, Japan, and Norway, wish to lift the IWC
moratorium on certain whale stocks for hunting. Anti-whaling countries
and environmental activists oppose lifting the ban. Under the terms of the IWC
moratorium, aboriginal whaling is allowed to continue on a subsistence basis. Over the
past few decades, whale watching has become a significant industry in many parts of the
world; in some countries, it has replaced whaling, but in a few others, the two business
models exist in an uneasy tension. The live capture of cetaceans for display in aquaria
(e.g., captive killer whales) continues.
2. The purpose of Whaling:
Traditions as varied as the Inuit (who hunted in the Arctic Ocean), Basque (who hunted
in the Atlantic), and Japanese (who hunted in the Pacific) relied on whales to provide
material goods, which was also a part of their cultural, historical and ethnical identity.

Nearly every part of the whale was used. Meat, skin, blubber, and organs were eaten as
an important source of protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Baleen was woven into
baskets and used as fishing line. In warmer climates, baleen was also used as a roofing
material. Bones were used primarily for toolmaking and carving ceremonial items such
as masks.
B. History of whaling practices and their impact on whale populations:

The earliest known forms of whaling date to at least 3000 BC. Coastal communities

around the world have long histories of subsistence use of cetaceans, by dolphin drive
hunting and by harvesting drift whales. Widespread commercial whaling emerged with
organized fleets of whaleships in the 17th century; competitive national whaling
industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory
ships and explosive harpoons along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half
of the 20th century. By the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually. In
1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling because
of the extreme depletion of most of the whale stocks.[3]

 It was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16th century, it had
risen to be the principal industry in the Basque coastal regions of Spain and France. The
whaling industry then spread throughout the world and became increasingly profitable in
terms of trade and resources. Some regions of the world's oceans, along the animals'
migration routes, had a particularly dense whale population, and became the targets for
large concentrations of whaling ships, and the industry continued to grow well into the
20th century. The depletion of some whale species to near extinction led to the banning
of whaling in many countries by 1969, and to an international cessation of whaling as an
industry in the late 1980s.
Early whaling affected the development of widely disparate cultures on different
continents. The Basques were the first to catch whales commercially, and dominated the
trade for five centuries, spreading to the far corners of the North Atlantic and even
reaching the South Atlantic. The development of modern whaling techniques was spurred
in the 19th century by the increase in demand for whale oil, sometimes known as "train
oil", and in the 20th century by a demand for margarine and later whale meat.
Many countries once had significant whaling industries, and these are covered in separate
articles; for example Whaling in the Netherlands, Whaling in Scotland, and Whaling in
Argentina. Canada, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, the United States and
the Danish dependencies of the Faroe Islands and Greenland continue to hunt in the 21st
century, and are described below.
C. How is Whaling depleting natural resources?
According to Butman and others (1993), the whaling industry killed more whales
between 1860s and 1900s than in the previous four centuries. From 1920 to 1986, over a
million of whales were killed by commercial whaling. The Atlantic gray whale is now
extinct and the population of humpback whale has been reduced by 95% of its historic
population. Overhunting of whales has caused a change in deep-sea biodiversity and the
potential ecological consequences are unknown.
According to Clark and Lamberson (1982), there is a high correlation between areas of
high krill density and areas of high whale catches. The predator-prey relationship enables
whalers capture their target more easily2 . Another aspect of predator-prey relationship is
that when whales feed on poisoned or ill prey, this may cause death to the whales.
Commercial whaling and human impact have caused the depletion of marine species,
especially the top level in food web. It is logical to generalize that if the predator is
removed, the population of the prey should experience a growth. According to Stevens
and others (2000), most marine ecosystems are extremely diverse with complex inter-
relationships between species and predator prey interactions are less tightly coupled due
to factors such as prey switching, ontogenetic changes in diet, and cannibalism. They
suggest that the depletion of a large predator may have serious and unforeseen
consequences in the ecosystem.
When humans hunt and fish, they tend to favor animals that provide significant resources.
In the oceans, whales, sharks and other large vertebrates have been targeted for centuries,
and while the international ban on whaling has helped some species recover in select
areas, many populations have fallen to a fraction of their natural levels.

This has a negative effect on species and ecosystems, and can also impact the climate:
When whales and other large animals flourish in the ocean, they carry a substantial
amount of carbon to the sea floor upon dying. Whales and other large marine vertebrates
could effectively function as carbon credits. To better understand this process,
researchers from the University of Maine, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the
University of British Columbia conducted a study, “The Impact of Whaling on the Ocean
Carbon Cycle: Why Bigger Was Better.” The research was published in 2010 in PLoS
ONE, a peer-reviewed, open-access online publication.
The key findings include:

 Compared to pre-exploitation levels, the current populations of large baleen whales

store 9.1 million fewer tons of carbon.
 About 160,000 tons of carbon per year could be removed from the atmosphere if whale
populations were restored to pre-industrial levels. This amount is equivalent to adding
843 hectares of forest.
 Restoring the whale populations compares favorably with unproven schemes such as
iron fertilization in removing carbon from the ocean surface.
D. International Whaling Commission:

In December 1946, International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established at

Washington DC. Its mission was to regulate whaling activities of different nations. It
adopted the concept of Blue Whale Unit (BWU) to limit each nation to capture whales in
Antarctica. One BWU is equivalent to one blue whale, two fin whales, two and a half
humpbacks, or six sei whales. The defect of the BWU is that it allows whales to capture
the most abundant, valuable, and convenient species at the time. In 1972, IWC
abandoned the use of BWU and began to regulate catching by species and stocks.
Starting from 1986, the limit for whale catching was set to zero. Industries may resume
whaling if the stock of a species is recovered to above 54% of historical abundance.
However, there is currently debate over historic whale population sizes. Roman and
Palumbi (2003) state that DNA evidence indicates that before commercial whaling began,
whale populations were 10 times larger than scientists previously believed. According to
traditional estimates (based on whaling log records), many whale populations have nearly
recovered to the required 54% of their historic levels, but the new genetic analysis
suggests it will take at least another 50 -100 years.

E. References:

1. Chapin III, F. Stuart. et al. 2000. Consequences of Changing Biodiversity. Nature 405: 234- 242.
2. Clark, C. W., Lamberson, R. 1982. An Economic History and Analysis of Pelagic Whaling.
Marine Policy 6: 103-120.
3. Butman, C. A. et al. 1995. Whaling Effects on Deep-Sea Biodiversity. Conservation Biology 9:
462-464.
4. International Whaling Commission. http://www.iwcoffice.org/
5. https://journalistsresource.org/environment/impact-of-whaling-on-the-ocean-carbon-cycle/
6. Learning Module developed by Wai Chan Environmental Science Institute
(http://www.esi.utexas.edu)