Gone are the days when the great whales were hunted around the world. A worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling that went into effect 33 years ago has mostly put an end to the practice.
But among the more than 80 nations that belong to the International Whaling Commission and have signed on to its ban on commercial whaling, Japan has always been a renegade member. Its whalers continue to hunt and kill hundreds of whales each year under an exemption for "scientific research," which conservationists consider a ridiculous sham.
Japan should give up whaling. There is no reason for to continue a practice that is cruel--the whales, often, don't die instantly--and depletes the stock. The days are past when Japan needed whale meat to feed its people. Eating whale meat in Japan is a dying custom. It's past time for the Japanese to join the overwhelming majority of the world and put the practice of whale hunting to rest, once and for all.
Editorial on 01/05/2019