Is Japan's whaling industry going to become a thing of the past? You may not guess so since high profile whaling activities by Japanese fleets receive so much international media attention thanks to Greenpeace agressively protesting the practice. However whaling in the country is not what it used to be. Even looking at some of the reaction from Japan's residents, several said they had never even tried whale meat and those who had did not eat it on a regular basis.

Whale meat only became common in the country after World War II when it became a primary source of protein. This and whaling activities by other countries who hunted whales for oil caused a significant decline in the whale population. Eventually the International Whaling Commission was established to regulate whale hunting. The IWC grew to 81 member states and eventually initiated a global whaling moratorium with the exception being Japan's much-debated, controversial whaling research program. In 1991 the IWC decided certain whale species had an adequate population to allow commercial whaling to begin again, however red tape among the group has led disagreement over the monitoring process and and quotas.

Not only does Japan, a pro-whaling country, claim there are 100,000 minke whales in the Atlantic and 665,000 in the Southern Hemisphere, but Kunio Yonezawa, head of the Japan Overseas Fishing Association also says the practice is actually more eco-friendly than traditional farming. 

"It is a much better way ecologically in terms of climate change instead of (eating) land animals, particularly (when you consider) animal husbandry," says Yonezawa. "To produce 1 kg of beef, it takes 18.4 kg of COe greenhouse gas emissions, whereas to produce one kilogram of whale meat it takes 2.9 kg of COe. Moreover, 70 percent of the Amazon forest cleared has been for ranching."

Greenpeace argues that there isn't enough evidence to justify commercial whaling and that the quota allowed for the research program is too generous.

Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Sato — currently on bail after being charged with stealing whale meat — says, "this is definitely not scientific — research is an excuse. They should limit their hunt to 10 whales for research. The numbers of whales has decreased in the past 100 years."

So how does the rest of Japan feel?  According to Greenpeace a 2006 survey conducted by the Nippon Research Center said 95 per cent of Japanese respondents had never eaten whale or very rarely do so. In fact last year the demand was so low that 4,000 tonnes of excess whale meat had to be frozen and stored in warehouses. Earlier this year 10 tons of this meat was supplied to 254 schools as part of "Traditional School Lunch Week," in hopes it might boost whale meat consumption.

It doesn't appear to be working and if that trend continues, Greenpeace and other animal activists may soon find they have a reason to celebrate as the practice of whaling becomes obsolete.

» The Japan Times Online