Whaling
In 1984 a world moratorium on whaling came into effect… following the plummeting numbers of whales to less than 10% of their original population. Since then, whale watching has become a major industry in Australia, increasing over the last decade from 42 boats taking 140,000 tourists, to 290 boats carrying 1.6 million tourists. Yet despite the economic benefits, some countries continue to hunt whales, using a loophole in the convention for so-called scientific purposes. Last year Norway killed 700 whales, and last week it’s parliament decided to increase that number threefold. Iceland has also just announced it would whale for the second year this northern summer. Despite the fact that 23 of the original 35 tones of whale meat from last year’s catch is still sitting in a stockpile because it’s illegal to trade the meat under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. Kate Hairsine spoke to Dr Rob Harcourt, Director of Marine Science at Macquarie University.