commercial whaling
Harvesting ocean giants
Commercial whaling is the hunting of whales for profit, historically for oil, meat, baleen, and other products.
Distinguished from subsistence whaling by indigenous peoples, commercial operations industrialized in the 19th and 20th centuries, driving several species near extinction.
International regulations now severely restrict the practice, though some nations continue under various exemptions: Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019.
- moratoriumsTemporary bans or delays
- profitGain exceeding expenditure
- moral debatesDiscussions of right conduct
- scientific researchSystematic investigation for knowledge
- biodiversityRange of life forms
industry · factory ship · indigenous practices · animal rights · legal penalties · marine ecosystems · trade · endangered species · overexploitation · harpoons · blubber · whale meat · cultural heritage · conservation laws · market · export · treaties · societal attitudes
- Whalingharpoon gun, harpoon guns, flensing, harpooner, whale hunt
- marine huntingseal hunting, seal hunt, seal hunters, sealing, subsistence hunting
commercial whalingwhale conservation
Safeguarding large marine mammals
marine conservation · whale watching · whale sanctuaries · ecotourism · ocean conservation
commercial, commercially, commerce, commercialize, commercialization, commercialism, whales, whaler, whalers