In recent years, two separate agendas—one to promote commercial whaling and the other to protect fisheries from over-exploitation—have been misleadingly brought together to promote whaling interests.
The pro-whaling interests claim there are too many whales eating too many fish, which poses a major threat to commercial fish stocks worldwide and is contributing to world hunger. Nations such as Japan, Norway, and Iceland make this claim with increasing insistence.
On its face, the claim seems absurd, and indeed there is no scientific evidence to support it. The greatest threat to fish stocks is mankind. Some 75% of fish stocks are depleted, and over-fishing by humans is the primary cause of the declines. Whales, and other top predators, are components of healthy marine ecosystems, and removing or depleting their populations may even have negative consequences for fisheries.
The pro-whaling interests have subtly, although with increasing stridency, introduced this specious argument into fisheries forums around the world. To cloak their true agenda—ending the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) ban on commercial whaling—they refer to whales as "living marine resources" and "high order predators" who must be culled to protect fish populations.
Because of pro-whaling nations' manipulative tactics, the call to cull whales is gaining attention that it doesn't deserve. At the same time, the good work of marine conservationists in promoting a responsible ecosystems-based approach to fisheries management is being undermined.
Ecosystems are very complicated and are made up of many interacting and inter-dependent components. Predicting the implications of human-made changes in these systems is a formidable challenge for scientists. The deceptively straightforward notion that reducing (or removing) any particular predator will simply lead to an increase in one of its prey animals is not good science.
Scientists increasingly use computer simulations of ecosystems, simplified models of what occurs in the sea. To date, few (if any) models show any likelihood of a net gain to fisheries if marine mammals are removed or controlled. Without any proof that eliminating whales will improve the supply of fish for human consumption—indeed, with the existence of proof that eliminating predators will harm fish populations—it is unconscionable to consider culling whales. The only certain beneficiaries of such a cull will be pro-whaling nations.
The HSUS and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society have presented a "Statement on Whales and Fisheries" from marine experts opposing the killing of whales to protect fisheries resources.
