Sink or Swim - The Economics of Whaling Today
Whales have been hunted commercially for centuries. The IWC started out essentially as a whalers' club, with only 15 members, all of which were whaling nations. It had no provisions to detect and punish over-hunting and it paid scant attention to the sustainability of whaling. The results were disastrous for whales. Some species, such as blue and right whales, were hunted to near extinction; reduced to less than 5 per cent of their original population abundance. Yet it must be seen in the context of its time, which far pre-dated any environmental or conservation treaties, or awareness of the need to utilise wild species sustainably.
