IWC Conference - Whales Put Nearly Zero Pressure On Fisheries - BBC

[hatrack]

"Whales are hardly ever in competition with humans for fish, a world respected fisheries expert says. Dr Daniel Pauly, of the University of British Columbia, Canada, says Japan is wrong to blame whales and other marine mammals for reducing fish stocks.

Arguing that whales eat fish which could feed the world's hungry people is "cynical and irresponsible", he said. Dr Pauly's comments were made as the International Whaling Commission began its four-day annual meeting in Italy.

EDIT

They acknowledge that whales and pinnipeds (seals and sealions) eat several times as much as the 125-150 million tonnes caught annually by people - possibly as much as 5-600 million tonnes in total.

But they say: "What whales consume is largely stuff that we do not catch, in areas where we do not fish." The authors reached their conclusion after mapping fish catches against what whales are known to eat."

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3906775.stm