The oceans cover 70% of the planet and NAMMCO provides an essential forum for unrestricted discussion of the interrelationship between humans and marine mammals.
"Eating marine mammals is our national identity," said the participants from Greenland. Their unity of viewpoint impressed this first-time participant.
Lessons in sustainability at NAMMCO showed why the whaling issue is not easily tidied away by declaring whether one is "for" or "against" hunting the animals.
In practice the IWC has already abandoned the management of whale resources and whaling, and the Western worldview caused this situation.
Not the whaling moratorium, but the defense and promotion of the general principle of sustainable use is the important policy issue for many countries.
Abe’s legacy included overseeing a dramatic shift in Japan’s whaling policy, from the decision to withdraw from the IWC to the restart of commercial whaling.
The ongoing recovery in the numbers of fin whales and humpbacks is becoming clearer, and observations of the blue whale indicate a recovery in that species...
In the world of commercial whaling, whalers cannot just hunt as they please – there is an annual quota set by the government. However, they must...
Feature photo: Votive tablet showing Meiji era whaling by shooting at Hirado, Seto (Last of 2 Parts) Part 1: Sustaining Human Life: The Birth of Traditional...
Just over a year ago, on June 30, 2019, Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC). A day later, on July 1, the...
I have sided with China and North Korea in the past. I was staying at the Friendship Hotel when I taught in Beijing, then suffering...
Dr. Seiji Ohsumi, the Japanese expert who helped guide the study of whales for more than half a century and was also recognized...