Greenwood,+K

Japanese whalers Why did whaling in japan start? Fishing and harvesting food from the ocean is historically of great importance to the Japanese so it was in fact part of their culture for many years as it was for many European country's, Whales were caught for their meat oil bones and other by products that were used for many things.
 * [|Whaling]** in [|Japan] may have begun as early as the 12th century. During the 20th century Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling until the [|International Whaling Commission] moratorium on commercial whaling. Japanese whaling is currently restricted to hunts conducted by the [|Institute of Cetacean Research]. It is, however, a source of political dispute between pro- and anti-whaling countries and organizations. Nations, scientists and environmental organizations opposed to whaling consider the Japanese research program to be unnecessary at best and a thinly disguised commercial whaling operation at worst.[|[1]][|[2]][|[3]] Japan maintains the annual take of whales is sustainable and necessary for scientific study and management of whale stocks. Japan also argues that objections to whaling are based upon cultural differences and emotional [|anthropomorphism].[|[4]][|[5]]

How long have whales been on the earth? Whales have been in the ocean longer then humans have walked the earth. Whales are thought to have descended from some kind of artiodactyl (grazing animal) about 40 million years ago

http://www.livescience.com/animals/080911-whale-legs.html http://whale.wheelock.edu/archives/ask01/0315.html [] [] [] []

As technology increased and demand for the seemingly vast resources remained high, catches far exceeded the carrying capacity of whale stocks. In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed annually [|[2]] and by the middle of the century signs were up that whale stocks were not being replenished. Eventually in 1986 the [|International Whaling Commission] introduced a [|moratorium] on commercial whaling so that stocks might recover. While the moratorium has been successful in averting the extinction of whale species due to over hunting, contemporary whaling is subject to intense debate. Pro-whaling countries wish to lift the moratorium on stocks that they believe have recovered sufficiently to sustain limited hunting. Anti-whaling countries and environmental groups contend that the species in question are still vulnerable as well as that whaling is immoral and should be banned regardless of whether hunting is sustainable.
 * Whaling** is the hunting of [|whales] mainly for meat and oil and in its earliest forms dates back to at least 3,000 BC.[|[1]] Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales. Industrial whaling emerged with organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century.

In years past, cultures all over the world hunted whales, and nearly every part of the whale was put to use. The fashion, engineering, cosmetics, and candle- and soap-making industries had interest in various parts of whales. Today, traditional uses of whale parts have been replaced with modern-day synthetics, and whaling today is done primarily for food. However, several societies still carry on traditional uses of whale components.