Is Japan allowed to catch any whales for food use?
Japan also operates a small coastal whaling fishery in Taji, Wakayama (and a few other places); dolphins, pilot whales and other smaller species are harvested here, and the majority of the whale meat found in local supermarkets in Japan comes from this hunt. I don’t know the ins and outs of the International Whaling Commission treaties, but nations can hunt otherwise unendangered species of whales such as dolphins and pilot whales for cultural purposes. And more power to them. Many of the larger baleen whales such as sei whales and fins are caught in international waters, and so the catch is more strictly regulated. Japan can do whatever it wants within its own economic zone, and so the dolphin catch continues. Most of the whale meat harvested from whales caught in international waters as part of the scientific research program is stockpiled in warehouses. The consumption of whale meat is declining year by year, and it is widel
