by L.S. Watts

Created on: July 05, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2009

The practice of whaling is a way of life for many cultures. In fact, whaling has been around much longer than any written record of it. As humans improved their means for hunting whales, various whale populations began to dwindle. In the 1700s, mankind constructed organized fleets of whaling ships. Then in the 1800s and 1900s technology continued to improve making it easier to "harvest" more whales in less time. This caused many whales to become extinct or endanger of extinction.

In 1946, the International Whaling Commission stepped in to create laws to limit the amount of whales allowed to be hunted. However, they fail to fully enforce the laws they pass down. Therefore many nations still practice whaling. Some nations only hunt particular whales, whereas others seem to be indiscriminate.

Gray Whale

Due to whaling, the Atlantic gray whale became extinct by 1800. The Northwest Pacific population is on the critically endangered list. However, the Treaty of Neah Bay allows the Makah Indian Tribe to still hunt whales. Regardless of the treaty, whaling was prohibited in 1920. When the Northwest Pacific gray whales were removed from the endangered list in 1999, the Makah Indians were allowed to hunt one whale but was then halted by litigation. In 2004, the ninth circuit court ruled that in order for the tribe to hunt whales under the Treaty of Neah Bay, they had to comply with the Marine Mammals Protection Act.

Blue Whale

The International Whaling Commission put a ban on hunting the blue whale in 1966. Several countries were strongly against this ban. The Japanese rely heavily upon the sale of whale meat in their markets. Iceland and Norway also refused to comply at first. Iceland finally ended the hunt of blue whales in 1989. Ultimately these countries are forced to comply because it is illegal to hunt or even sell blue whale meat.

Fin Whale

The fin whale frequents the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and Antarctica. Several countries participate in the hunting of the fin whale. Iceland and Japan have a long history of hunting the fin whale and still continue to this day. Iceland only hunts these whales so they can sell the meat in Japan. Japan hunted the fin whale in 2005-2008. Each year they increased their quota.

Greenland hunts the fin whale under the International Whaling Commission's procedure for aboriginal subsistence whaling. According to the International Whaling Commission exporting whale meat is illegal. However, Greenland objects to the

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