Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Food Chain: Why the whale hunt continues

Magazines & Reviews

Why the whale hunt continues

26/11/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Why the whale hunt continues

The real reasons some countries swim against the tide of international opinion

The real reasons some countries swim against the tide of international opinion on whaling.

Only three countries still hunt whales commercially. They do it despite little demand for whale meat and sometimes fierce international condemnation. So why do they continue?

Emily Thomas finds out why Norway, Japan and Iceland still kill whales for their meat and discovers that tradition, culture and a strong sense of national identity can outweigh all of these factors. 

She hears why aggressive international pressure, particularly from environmental or animal welfare NGOs, can backfire, and speaks to the man behind a campaign that may have helped end commercial whaling in one of these countries for good.

Producers: Simon Tulett and Sarah Stolarz

(Picture: A captured minke whale is lifted by a crane at a port in Kushiro, Japan, in July 2019. Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/BBC)

Contributors:

JohnJo Devlin, BBC reporter;
Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s Minister of Fisheries and Seafood;
Michal Kolmaš, assistant professor of Asian studies and international relations at the Metropolitan University in Prague;
Sigursteinn Másson, journalist and anti-whaling campaigner

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Food Chain

Why the whale hunt continues

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service