Made famous by "Moby Dick," "There she blows!" is heard all over the seas. Was the main character right when he hunted the whale
in sight? Since around AD 800, whales have been hunted for their oil, meat, and bones. In fact, whales were killed without limits for many centuries in the past. Many species were near
extinction until the passing of an international law in 1946. The goal of this law was to
balance the conservation1 of whales
with the development of the industry. However, things have gotten more complicated since the International Whaling2 Commission3 decided to
ban all
commercial hunting in 1986.
Now, the whaling war has begun. The pro-4whaling nations, mainly Norway, Japan, and Iceland, claim whales are eating up too many fish. They insist they have to kill whales
in the name of scientific research. They also argue that whale populations have recovered enough to be hunted again, which would satisfy the growing market for whale meat. However, the anti-5whaling nations, which include the US, Britain, and Australia, disagree. First, they believe fish are disappearing due to over-fishing by people, not whales. Second, with new technologies, whales can be studied in the wild without being killed. Third, the whale populations are not strong enough to fight off extinction if they are openly hunted again. Last, there is very
little demand for whale meat as food. Until now, this battle is still going on for the 84 countries of the IWC and for the whales.
『她在那裡噴氣啦！』，這個出現在《白鯨記》中的經典名句已是聲傳四海（編按：《白鯨記》為美國文學的名著之一，作者赫曼‧梅爾維爾以捕鯨船船長與一 條巨鯨之間的恩怨情仇，刻畫出一段驚心動魄的海上冒險故事，並描寫人性的掙扎糾結）。但小說中的男主角在看到鯨魚時便加以獵捕的行為是對的嗎？自大約西元 800年起，鯨魚就因其油脂、魚肉及骨頭而遭獵捕。事實上，鯨魚在過去數世紀以來一直被無限制地捕殺。直到1946年一條國際法規的通過之前，許多鯨魚品 種都瀕臨滅絕。而此項法規的宗旨正是要取得鯨魚保育以及鯨漁業發展這兩者間的平衡。然而自國際捕鯨委員會決定自1986年禁止所有的商業捕鯨行為之後，事 情就變得更加複雜了。
如今一場事關捕鯨的大戰已然展開。贊成捕鯨的國家主要為挪威、日本和冰島，他們聲稱鯨魚吃掉太多魚類。他們借科學研究的名義而堅持必須捕殺鯨魚。他們 還爭辯鯨魚的數量已回升至足以再次遭到獵捕，如此才能供應日漸增長的鯨魚肉市場。然而，包括美國、英國和澳洲等反對捕鯨的國家則不苟同。首先，他們認為魚 類的消失是因為人類的濫捕，而與鯨魚無關。第二，有了新的科技，鯨魚的研究活動可在野外及不殺害牠們的情況下進行。第三，若鯨魚再次遭到公開捕殺，其數量 並未龐大到可以抵抗絕種的下場。最後，鯨魚肉作為食物的需求量更是少之又少。迄今，對國際捕鯨委員會裡的八十四個成員國與鯨魚來說，這場戰爭仍舊持續著。
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