Subsidising Whaling

Some of the subsidies, said the report, were siphoned off from the budget for reconstructing the region impacted by the March 2011 tsunami. Whale meat has declined in popularity among Japanese consumers and current stockpiles of unsold whale meat have increased to 5,000 tonnes, four times more than 15 years ago. Japan has killed more than 14,000 whales since the world moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. “Whaling is unprofitable, and survives only with substantial subsidies, something cultural and nationalist arguments for whaling obscure," said Patrick Ramage, the Director of the Animal Welfare Fund's whale programme. He believes that Japan can benefit economically and ecologically if it promoted whale-watching tourism instead of the hunting of whales.

Source: Sanctuary Asia.