Mia Weinberg

The Problem with Whaling in Japan

By: Mia Weinberg

Whaling is the act of hunting whales, and has been practiced by many coastal civilizations for hundreds of years. It was first recorded in Europe in the 12th century by the Basque people, who used hand-held harpoons to hunt whales off of their coast in present-day France and Spain. In Asia, Japan is the best-known whaling nation, with an industry that has been active since at least the 16th century. Japan is well-positioned to hunt whales due to its location in the Pacific Ocean, as migratory species travel along its coast during migrations. Therefore, Japan has long been able to commercially exploit these whale stocks. After a ban on commercial whaling was established in 1986, Japan has continued to hunt whales and has become the subject of international criticism. Japanese officials claim that whaling is a traditional part of Japanese culture that the country is unwilling to sacrifice in the name of conservation. Just how intertwined is whaling with Japanese culture, and how is the continued practice impacting marine ecosystems globally?

Organized whaling was first recorded in Japan in 1570. Coastal villagers formed whaling groups.

Using handheld harpoons to kill these massive marine mammals, the harpoon specialists among these early whalers were highly skilled. They traveled in groups of at least 300 people because it took so much labor to locate the whales and bring their carcasses ashore. During this time, whale oil was in high demand, as it was used for oil-burning lamps, and as an ingredient in soap, fertilizer, and pesticides prior to the use of kerosene and vegetable oil. Whale meat was also consumed by elite members of the population, but was not a significant part of the Japanese diet.

This small-scale whaling continued for about 300 years, until the early 20th century. During this time, American and Norwegian whalers developed factory ships that allowed the industry to scale-up

globally. Whales could now be processed at sea, making the entire process more efficient. This was done because coastal whales were killed so quickly in these nations that they were forced to expand their operations or the industry would not be profitable. Japan quickly adopted these new technologies, and expanded to the Antarctic, where they killed hundreds to thousands of whales a year for many decades. This transition coincided with the end of WWII, during which time whale meat became a dominant part of the Japanese diet as Japan recovered economically and socially from the war. This was the only period in Japan’s history in which ordinary people consumed whale meat regularly.

As global concern over endangered whale species emerged, the International Whaling Commission was formed, and banned commercial whaling in 1986. Japan objected to this moratorium, claiming that its whaling was scientifically necessary. Between 1986 and 2015, Japanese whalers have killed over 15,000 whales, leaving populations decimated. This is problematic because whales serve many essential functions to the marine ecosystem, and to humans. One of the most important services provided by whales is their ability to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration. This is the process by which whales’ bodies absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere throughout their lifespans, even locking the carbon away for centuries after they die. Great whales capture an estimated 33 tons of CO₂ in their lifetimes, which would otherwise exist in the atmosphere and warm the planet. Whales’ fecal matter also contains nutrients that are essential to the diet of primary producers like phytoplankton, which are the basis of the marine food chain.

Japan has greatly contributed to the endangerment of several whale species, which has greatly affected the health of our oceans and will continue to do so. Nations continue to plead with Japan to stop its harmful commercial whaling practices, which it is disguising as scientific research. Not only is it false that whale meat is necessary to feed the Japanese population, but researching whales does not necessitate killing hundreds of animals a year. Japan’s irresponsible practices threaten the livelihood of oceans globally, and belong at the center of global discussion on climate change mitigation.

References

Arch, J. K. (2018). Introduction. In Bringing Whales Ashore: Oceans and the environment of early modern japan. University of Washington Press.

Environmental Investigation Agency. (2018, September). Commercial whaling: Unsustainable, inhumane, unnecessary. Animal Welfare Institute . Retrieved from https:// awionline.org/sites/default/files/press_release/files/AWIIWC-report-final-2018.pdf

Evans, L. (2020, May 6). Commercial whaling 101. Na-tional Resources Defense Council. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/commercial-whaling-101

Pershing, A. J., Christensen, L. B., Record, N. R., Sherwood, G. D., & Stetson, P. B. (2010). The impact of whaling on the ocean carbon cycle: Why bigger was better. PLoS ONE, 5(8), e12444. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012444

Roman, J., Estes, J. A., Morissette, L., Smith, C., Costa, D., McCarthy, J., Smetacek, V. (2014). Whales as marine ecosystem engineers. Frontiers in Ecology and the Envi-ronment, 12(7), 377-385. doi:10.1890/130220