@Dmitry. You're assuming that the IUCN is the best source of information about the status of whale populations and their conservation status. There is no general agreement on that. Even assuming that you're correct, consider the following:

Minke: IUCN says "Although there is no accepted estimate of current abundance, the population size is clearly in the hundreds of thousands." Around the time of the '86 moratorium, the IWC estimated the Minke population at ~710,000 in the Southern Ocean alone. Since then, Minke have only been commercially harvested by Norway and Iceland so it's probably safe to assume that that population has grown. But, even if you conservatively estimate a population of 300,000 Japan's '09 cull of 851 whales represents less then 0.3%.

Fin whale: IUCN's latest data is for '97 and gives an population estimate of 38,185. (Bear in mind this is an increase from the 15,178 estimated for the '83, so the population is likely to have grown now). Japan took 1 Fin whale in the '09 cull. That represents a statistically irrelevant 0.003% of the population.

Let's put this in context. Under Aboriginal-sustenance permits, the USA (an anti-whaling country) took 52 bowhead whales in '08 representing 0.5% of the most recent estimates for that population (10,500). Russia took 140 Gray whales the same year - 0.5% of that population (26,300).

Despite the fact that the Japanese are likely to be taking a smaller proportion of their target species than the anti-whaling nations using aboriginal sustenance permits there is all this opposition. It makes no sense.

Japanese hunt minke whales still listed by CITES as threatened and fin whales classified as endangered. The Antarctic Whale Sanctuary like all wildlife sanctuaries is intended to allow marine life to recover. An idiot's logic: "gee, look there are many of them here in the sanctuary: they aren't endangered then, let's go and hunt them!"

David. If you consider that the whale species being hunted by the Japanese are not endangered, your legal objections largely fall away.

But let's be honest. Your opposition to whaling has nothing to do with legality. Tell us the real reason you oppose whaling.

Japan's continued and expanded program of scientific whaling is inconsistent with its obligations under the Law of the Sea Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling Convention, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect and preserve the marine environment, to protect rare and fragile ecosystems and endangered species, to prepare environmental impact assessments when changes to the marine environment are likely to be caused by its activities, and to refrain from claiming resources under the guise of marine scientific research. This program is not legitimately "scientific" because it has not been peer-reviewed and does not have precise quantifiable goals. It is inconsistent with Japan's obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity because reduces the sustainability of whale species and has "adverse impacts on biological diversity." It is unquestionably an abuse of right because it invokes Article VIII of the Whaling Convention in a manner that certainly was unanticipated by the framers of the Convention and has been repeatedly condemned by the majority of the other contracting parties to the Convention. Japan's actions can be challenged by concerned states in the International Court of Justice or through the dispute resolution procedures of the Law of the Sea Convention and the conciliation procedures of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Plus other 'irregularities that people like malocolm Green should beef up on before making an uninformed comment.

The only "shameful" thing is this pompus and sanctimonious drivel posing as an "opinion". What's wrong with you people? I can't believe you have the gall to talk about "behaving honourably". You mean like your cousins in Australia? Who "honourably" buther millions of kangaroos a year. Not to mention wild horses, camels, dingos and just about every other animal on the continent. Perhaps you mean "behaving honourably" like GreenPeace and SS? I guess you consider GP tresspassing and stealing 'honorable behavior'. Let's not forget SS's 'honorable behavior'. Lying, throwing glass bottles of acid, and trying to foul the props of ships at sea is 'honorable behavior' in your book? Japan has remained in the IWC and follows the rules set down by the IWC. Norway and Iceland simply left the IWC and follow no rules but their own, yet Japan is acting "dishonourably"? Also, you fail to mention the other countries who are killing whales. Such as Greenland, America and Russia. Why is that? Don't you care about those whales? It's "opinions" such as this that makes it impossible to take the anti-whaling position seriously. The entire anti-whaling position is based on emotion, half-truths and hypocrisy.

You make good points David Head.

The fishing of a balanced range of species is much more sensible than to only protect whales at their peril. And it is shocking how that whales consume so much of the oceans fisheries.

It is not PC but really we should be more reasonable with the Japanese.

You are so right to call it a Holy Sea Cow.

How can Nw Zealand be such Bigotted one eyed freaks.

I havn't read Kiwi Chicks comments but your points make sense.

I won't even bother

You are so right to point out how our reducing fish stocks is the result of the unchecked whale population that now needs to be harvested to sensible population levels.

I am with you...Sensible harvesting is OK but Mass slorta like in Aussie is Just not on in this day and age.

If our National Parks are up for plunder, then surely too whales must be fair game! ... That said I think I might go out to the back of the farm and harpoon a cow for tonight's dinner.

I have seen comments by kiwichick before but this one is the most outrageous piece of Japanese -ICR propoganda inspired bollocks I have ever had the misfortune to read: "NZ clearly know nothing about ecology Whaling a proliferating species is a problem. A species that is reported to consume more than the entire world fishing fleet in a year. Balanced fishing across the species would be a much better than to protect one Holy Sea cow at the expense of the oceans balance. But that is logical and this debate has NOthing to do with logic" LAdy you would not know logic if it hit you in the face. But lets just ponder your statement. Tell me when large scale [industrial] whaling started you would have to agree there were 100's of 1000's [maybe ,millions] more whales than there are now. At this time fishing was small scale - and the abundance of fish stocks were so high that when large nets were started being used fishermen could hardly pull their nets up. At this stage-if you can follow logic[which I doubt] you would have to surmise that all those whales were not in fact having much effects on overall fish stocks. Now what has casued fish stocks to either disappear or at least be depleted. It sure as hell was not a decreasing number of whales -but a huge increase of fishermen using larger and larger nets. I would answer some of your other comments but frankly your views have little or no credibility. If in fact you are a kiwichick then you are as bad an advertisment for NZ as Glenn Inwood is.

New Zealand Declare yourself Vegetarian or an imbicile nation. You have no choice. We eat meat, Lions eat meat, Fish eat fish. Its the circle of life. Survival of the fittest? Your only opposition can be a religious one.

NZ clearly know nothing about ecology Whaling a proliferating species is a problem. A species that is reported to consume more than the entire world fishing fleet in a year. Balanced fishing across the species would be a much better than to protect one Holy Sea cow at the expense of the oceans balance. But that is logical and this debate has NOthing to do with logic.

NZ should stop being the pawns of the enviro-terror industry. Sea Shepherd invests as required in the tools of their business to make reality TV series in the US. And they have chosen a prime nation of hippies to use as props...Unlike Lord of the Rings we are only making losses on this movie for which Sea Shepherd keeps staging incidents for footage on. (See 'Whale Wars' reality series). You know what makes Ady Gil rich? Movies!You need irrational people to see the value in such movies hence using NZ’s false guilt ridden hippies. His boat,just a business expense. I am going to buy a few cans of Whale meat now to protest the Stupidity I read here knowing I have an Eco friendly meal that saved Thousands and thousands of fish lives at the cost of a single prolific whale that lived a happy free range life. Better than Bacon or Chicken in NZ.

Come on, we were all washing our hands with whale oil soap until about 1980 and now we want to wash our hands of guilt by condemning a responsible whaling nation. We want to hi-jack the IWC that was set up to manage whaling in good faith and turn it into a religious cult that must be of vegetarian persuasion or at least very ecologically discrimiatory. Japan uses more than the Whale oil and wastes nothing.

This is one of the most ecofriendly fisheries on the planet if managed responsibly...as Japan did and NZ & Aussie DID NOT!

Actually Japan is conducting valid scientific research. The data provided through the research is however, of primary use to those who seek to use whales as a naturally renewable marine resource.

The data they produce has been acknowledged by IWC scientists to have the potential to reduce scientific uncertainties regarding the whale stocks, and thus potentially allow for larger amounts of whales to be taken without increasing the risk of over-depletion of the resource.

This is completely consistent with the goals of the IWC's convention, which was to enable the development of whaling industry while properly conserving whale stocks at the same time.

The allegation that Japan is not conducting research is just a spurious fund-raising line that Greenpeace and other groups have been able to use successfully over the years, primarily due to a lack of knowledge amongst the general populace of the type of research that is valuable for those seeking to utilise marine resources like whales on an optimal basis.

New Zealand should stop opposing whaling at the IWC. New Zealand doesn't have to support it, but it's wrong to try to impose it's non-whale eating values on the Japanese and others.