The first global estimate of the number of whales killed by industrial harvesting last century reveals that nearly 3 million cetaceans were wiped out in what may have been the largest cull of any animal—in terms of total biomass—in human history. The devastation wrought on whales by twentieth-century hunting is well documented. Although some populations, such as minke whales, have largely recovered, others—including the North Atlantic right whale and the Antarctic blue whale—now hover on the brink of extinction.
But researchers had hesitated to put a number on the global scale of the slaughter. Rocha Jr, P. Clapham and Y. Ivashchenko Mar. The researchers estimate that, between and , 2. Other famous examples of animal hunting may have killed greater numbers of creatures—such as hunting in North America that devastated bison and wiped out passenger pigeons. But in terms of sheer biomass, twentieth-century whaling beat them all, Rocha estimates.
Number of workers in the Japanese fishing industry This feature is limited to our corporate solutions. Please contact us to get started with full access to dossiers, forecasts, studies and international data.
Skip to main content. Single Accounts Corporate Solutions Universities. In , Japan took down whales through commercial whaling, a decrease compared to hunted whales in the previous year. Whaling in Japan is subsidized by the government and was conducted under the scientific research provision in agreement with the International Whaling Commission IWC up until mid After withdrawing from the IWC, Japan resumed commercial whaling in its territorial waters.
According to archaeological finds, hard-harpooning whaling started in 12th century Japan and organized offshore hunts emerged four centuries later. Traditional whaling was limited to a few coastal areas and served as a subsistence purpose for seaside villages. In response, the Japanese government announced their withdrawal from the IWC to resume commercial whaling in the country's territorial waters.
However, Japanese vessels continued to hunt in domestic waters as well as in Antarctica, allowing the hunt of three species. In contemporary Japan, however, whale meat became a niche product. As eating habits change, awareness of sustainable fishing rises among Japanese consumers.
Please note: This page has been archived and its content may no longer be up-to-date. This version of the page will remain live for reference purposes as we work to update the content across our website. The following graph shows the total number of whales killed since the moratorium, and makes the distinction between "objection" whaling and "scientific" whaling.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. I guess the only thing that could make those countries stop whaling is when they have killed all the whales in the world.
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