The reason it’s called ‘research’ or ‘scientific whaling’ is because of a compromise back when the hippies and landlubbers hijacked the International Whaling Commission.
As I expect you know, there is more than one species of whale in the oceans. Many are not endangered, and these are the ones currently being hunted. Back then the hippies had to admit there was no reason to ban the hunting of all whales and so they agreed to ban the hunting of endangered whales while non-endangered whales could still be hunted, only it was called research.
-A nice stepping stone towards a complete ban on whaling since the whalers didn’t realize the hippies were acting in bad faith and have since used the ‘research’ label to attack sustainable whaling.
PS: Whales are delicious :)
I didn't much care for it but I guess if it what you are raised on that is what you like.
Some people like whale, some people like beef liver, some people like tofu.
I have lived in Japan for the last 25 years. I can count the number of people I know who like whale meat on the fingers of one hand. I’ve tried it. It has the texture of extremely tough beef and the taste of fish. It’s also oily.
All that means nothing. Anyone who eats a cow is on the same moral level as a person who eats a whale. Period. There is no virtue in shunning whale if you are going to eat other meat. It’s just a matter of taste.
I predict the whaling industry in Japan will die a natural death in the next twenty years as the oldsters who do like it, and who run the industries that support it, retire and die out. There’s just not much of a market for it.
Not that that is a totally good thing. What people seem to forget is that whales are predators themselves. Baleen whales feed primarily on krill, but so do many types of fish, penguins, birds, seals and other sea life. When a huge pod of whales go through a section of ocean, they pretty much strip mine it. Any other species in the area are going to have to look elsewhere for their lunch.
Some harvesting of whales may actually be ecologically sound, if not now, certainly in the future.