[Royal Wulff]

An island nation turned to the sea for sustenance. They harvest sea cows just as you eat land cows.

[Chainmail]

Except that we have finally discovered that the "cows" are far more intelligent than we knew. We at long last drew up laws regulating the destruction of them to allow them to try to rebuild their numbers.

The Japanese ignored/circumvented/violated those laws and go right on killing them, even though they aren't starving.

The Japanese have a troubling quality to them of violating laws when they feel like it.