ABSTRACT
The popular image of the whale is that of a unique creature, a marine mammal of great beauty and intelligence that was nearly hunted to extinction. Whaling symbolizes the blind greed and destructive power of modern industry. The use of whales as a resource for food, fertilizers, fuel, and other commodities has a long history. Many coastal communities are known to have consumed beached whales from their shores, but the lack of vessels and equipment deterred active catches of these large animals. Japan belongs to the minority. Whales, to the Japanese, are a renewable resource that is basically no different from trees, cattle, or fish. Thus, whaling is seen as a fisheries and resource use issue. Most other whaling nations did, too, until they gave up whaling and embraced whales almost solely as a conservation matter. A League of Nations meeting in 1927 raised the need for international rules to govern exploitation of marine resources.
