J.H.G.'s Nov. 22 letter, "Plenty of other things to eat," motivated me to respond. It is true that only a few countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland have hunted whales for food. Japanese fishermen used to make the best use of all parts of the whale, not only its meat but also fats and other stuff.
On the other hand, countries like the United States used to hunt whales only for the oil rendered from the fat, discarding all whale meat. What a waste! That was probably because Americans didn't have the habit of eating whale meat, just wasting the precious resources of the Earth.
Whales still provide a kind of meat that people eat for their meals. Although many kinds of whales were on the verge of extinction, some whales, such as minke, have proliferated to the extent that they can be used for our meals. Those whales are eating so much smaller fish, including sardines, that it is becoming harder for us to have fish for meals.
If the number of whales keeps increasing at the present rate, we will have fish shortages in the near future. It is too arrogant to insist that Americans can eat beef but that Japanese shouldn't eat whales.
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