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When and Why whaling was banned

The IWC regulates the whaling industry and acts to conserve whale populations. The ban was introduced because some species were in danger of being wiped out. The IWC has over 70 member countries, including the UK. But two member nations – Norway and Iceland – have lodged objections to the ban which allow them to whale commercially. Another member, Japan, continues to hunt whales under the guise of ‘scientific research’ WSPA wants the IWC to maintain the whaling ban to protect the welfare of the world’s whales.
 * Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body responsible for managing whaling.**

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How Japan started whaling

From the beginning, Japanese whaler's mobility has played a decisive role in shaping and disseminating Japan's whaling culture throughout the country. This is why even communities which are no longer actively involved in whaling do have whaling traditions which are an integral part of their community cultures. These whaling traditions go back to beginnings in prehistoric times with the use of stranded whales. Next, based on finds of hand harpoons and porpoise skulls in burial mounds, it would appear that active hunting of small cetaceans probably dates from the Jomon Period (10,000-300 BC). Scholars consider that active whaling began in the sixteenth century, but it was only toward the end of that century that whaling developed into a large-scale endeavor. Then, toward the end of the seventeenth century, Japanese began to use nets. In 1675 in Taiji, large groups of people organized to drive whales into big nets in the open sea, then used harpoons to attack the entangled whales

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Why Japan's Whale Hunt Continues.

Under a loophole in the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban against commercial whaling, Japan has continued to kill hundreds of whales every year for scientific research. Once a whale is killed, scientists collect data from the animal's remains on its age, birthing rate and diet; the meat is then packaged and sold. Japan maintains that the research is essential for managing the whale population.

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