While commercial whaling in the twentieth century killed big whale populations, it also appears to have had a long-term impact on the genetic variety of today's surviving whales, according to a piece by Nature World News extracted from Journal of Heredity.
The government of Iceland announced whaling was to resume effective Sept. 1 after banning the practice two months ago. The new measure sparked rage among environmentalists concerned about the endangered species. However, more effective hunting methods and equipment need to be used, the authorities said.
The Iceland government suspended whale hunting for the rest of the summer on Tuesday, following a report that found the practice contravenes the country's animal welfare standards.
The whaling industry in Japan is on the brink of collapse as young generations tastes have rapidly changed and government subsidies are beginning to shrink. The industry employed thousands of people in the decades immediately after World War II, and sustained entire communities during those difficult economic times, is today losing the government subsidies that has kept it afloat.
Faroe Islands announced on Sunday that the traditional catch of dolphins to be killed in its water would provisionally be limited to 500. The decision to crack down on the number of hunted dolphins comes after public outcry from last year's hunt, where over 1,423 white-sided dolphins were killed, a spree that shocked even residents who supported the practice.
Iceland will end commercial whaling by 2024, announced Fisheries minister Svandis Svavarsdottir in a piece published in the Reykjavik daily Morgunbladid. The lawmaker representing the ruling coalition led by the Left Greens said, there are few justifications to authorize the whale hunt beyond 2024, adding there is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this activity.
Japanese authorities have set the catch limit for the upcoming whaling season at 383 large whales – a number identical to that set in the last catch earlier this year.
Environmentalists from around the world urged global leaders at the G20 summit on Friday not to turn a blind eye to what they called a cruel assault on whales planned by host Japan when it restarts commercial whaling next week.
Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 to pave the way for the resumption of commercial whaling for the first time in about three decades, the government said on Wednesday, a decision likely to draw international condemnation.
Tempers flared at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Thursday as it voted to back a Brazilian proposal which would safeguard whales in perpetuity, after a bitter debate. The biennial meeting of the 89-nation body passed the host country's “Florianopolis Declaration” which sees whaling as no longer being a necessary economic activity.