In recent years, Japan’s pro-whaling lobbyists have deployed a series of excuses for continuing the hunt, despite the existence since 1986 of a global commercial whaling moratorium. First comes science: to gather much needed data, they claim, in order to restart commercial whaling on a sustainable basis. Second, comes culture: Japan’s long tradition of whaling and the dietary importance of whale meat. Finally, a new and possibly the silliest, argument has been added: whales eat fish and are threatening fish stocks.

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