I do agree with the lack of market for whale products argument, and demand or the lack thereof has always been what decides production. Bar the Norwegian iron works, and whaling has also been subsidized for a number of years. Now, with the recent ban on seal products – I doubt if we will see much more seal hunting from our shores in the future. Personally I don’t really care that much, and it has been years since I ate whale. I can easily go without it.

Still, its puzzling why whales bring out such strong emotions in people, most of whom have never seen one in real life. As stated before, I think some of the environmental organizations has promoted the cause, and its not necessarily the animal that needs protection the most – but probably the most profitable animal to protect. Imho, anyway – your mileage may vary. Thanks for the comments

You wrote: “Humans has been hunting whales for thousands of years…” I am not talking about aboriginal sustenance whaling here. In Norway there’s a myth that the whalers are only trying to feed their poor families by “harvesting the nature” blah, blah, blah. When it comes to tradition, the Norwegian whaling industry was responsible for developing the modern whaling methods that brought species to the brink of extinction. And have they learned from their mistakes? No. It’s only the low demand for meat (and blubber or other products) and the international resistance that stops the catch quota from increasing even further.

Next time, write more clearly. When I re-read and re-read, I see that you are referring more to the seals than the whales.

That same ignorant, arrogant and imbecile argument has been used since back in the 80′s, when in North of Norway it was “Svart hav” (No fish) because of human overfishing. Because of the lack of fish in the sea, the seals had to gather in the coastal areas to get food. The coastal fishermen then got the seals tangled up in their fishing nets and started to scream that “the seals suddenly had become overpopulated and had vacuumed the sea”. The truth was instead that the fleet of trawlers had done that vacuuming job.

There is a natural abundance in the oceans, enough for whales, seals and humans. Sadly the majority of humans on earth are so hungry after the mighty dollar, that they will ruin everything to get it.

Actually, Lars – when I spoke of “eat up most of the fish” I was talking about seals, not whales. I am fully aware of the diet of most whales, and I do not disagree that overfishing is the main factor in the decline in fish – but the end result is the same, though – not enough fish to feed all the seals will result in them starving to death.

The fact is that the most of the whale species primarily eat plankton, krill etc. rather than fish. Human overfishing is the cause of the decline of commercial fish stocks worldwide, NOT THE WHALES. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3906775.stm