Beyond the whaling stalemate

Finally, while it is true that welfare concerns have come to the fore in recent years as a reason to oppose whaling, this does not mean that such arguments are unsound or unscientific, nor that conservationrelated concerns have been dismissed. Commercial whaling meets no pressing human need, and its resumption would be an unnecessary and – given the arguably positive ecosystem role of whales – dangerous ecological experiment. The available evidence suggests that ending the moratorium is far less likely to result in “an agreement that ensures sustainability and effective conservation of large whales” than the current, admittedly imperfect, situation.