Commercial Whaling

The American Cetacean Society has been working to conserve marine mammals and their habitats through education, research, and conservation for over 25 years. In the interest of presenting an accurate picture to your readers, we are compelled to respond to the misleading column “Sacrificing People to Save Whales” (Commentary, Jan. 4).

Georg Blichfeldt portrayed environmentalists and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as bleeding hearts, whose goal is to save every whale because they are somehow humans of the sea. The fact is that the opposition to the resumption of commercial whaling is the result of the deplorable record of the whaling nations. There were once 200,000 blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere. The whaling nations depleted them to the brink of extinction. Even today, after 27 years of protection, there are only 9,000 (under 5%) remaining. Once blue whales had been depleted, the whalers moved on to species after species of large whales, depleting each of their populations.

Norway wants to independently manage the stocks of minke whales, the one species that has not been depleted. The IWC was established by international treaty to manage world whaling. Norway has threatened to resign from the IWC, has acted unilaterally to resume commercial whaling, and has established its own quotas without the approval of this world body.

Blichfeldt drastically oversimplifies the status of the minke whales. While the total number of minke whales in the North Atlantic is indeed estimated to be between 60,000 and 100,000, little is known about the status of the stocks, or local populations of these animals. Whereas killing 700 or 2,000 minke whales per year may not endanger the total population in the North Atlantic, it may very well eliminate stocks which inhabit restricted geographical areas. This is why the IWC has not yet established quotas on minke whales.

Norway consumes 51% (as required by the IWC) of the slaughtered minke whale meat, which has been reported to sell in Norway for as much as $23 a pound, and exports the rest (49%) to Japan, where whale meat has been reported to sell for over $200 a pound. The minke whale industry in Norway is expected to generate $340 million per year, a far cry from basic subsistence.

THOMAS D. LEWIS, Marine Biologist

American Cetacean Society Conservation

PAUL B. GOLD, Executive Director

American Cetacean Society, San Pedro