The Effect of the Moratorium
After the 1986 due to the laws and regulations put in by the UN also known as the Moratorium on whaling, the average number of whales killed annually had dramatically decreased. This in shown in the graph below which displays the number of whales killed by each country from 1946 to 2009 as well as when the moratorium set in 1986 and what effect in had on whaling in general. At the beginning of the graph in 1946, both Japan and Norway were the major whalers of the whales as the hunted a great number of whales. At times both these countries together had an annual whaling rate reaching over 35,000 altogether but after the moratorium was set, there was a huge drop in the whales killed. In the following years the numbers slowly increased but didn't come near as much as they hunted before. This graph proves that the moratorium was successful in decreasing the numbers of whales being hunted but did not completely stop it due to countries like Japan exploiting loopholes such as the allowance of scientific whaling while other countries such as Norway ignored the Moratorium by saying they were not bound by it. However, nevertheless since the Moratorium has taken place whale species have been given a better chance of recovery.
Figure 1, Source: http://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/flash/whaling_stats/main.swf
Commercial Whaling
Since the Moratorium for whaling was confirmed in 1986 and put in action, annual whaling rates have also significantly decreased even though it wasn't effective within the first 3 years of when the Moratorium was suppose to take effect. This is shown in Figure 2 below which displays the total number of whales killed annually for commercial whaling since 1986 till 2009. As shown on the graph, when this regulation was 1st placed into effect there was little change in the was first 3 years with Japan and Norway being the major commercial whalers in whaling industry with an annual rate of whales being killed peaking over 3000. However, from 1989 till 1992 all the countries had ceased whaling including the 2 major commercial whalers at the time, Japan & Norway. This did not last long as by 1992 Norway had begun commercial whaling again as they ignored the Moratorium. Japan on the other hand had stopped commercial whaling but began Scientific whaling as they utilised this loophole to do legal whaling. As seen on the graph, the effect of this results in the trend that is from 1992 on-wards, Norway is responsible for nearly all the whales caught for commercial whaling except for in 2007 -2009 where Iceland had contributed in slightly raising the annual catch rates for commercial whaling. But even then, the annual catch for the whales have not peaked a third of what it use to be proving that the Moratorium was effective against commercial whaling after being put into effect.
Figure 2, Source: http://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/flash/whaling_stats/main.swf
Scientific Whaling
Scientific whaling began in 1985 due to the creation of the scientific whaling program and and the whale kill count rose ever since. Figure 3 below is a graph which shows this as it displays the number of whales hunted for scientific purposes from 1986 to 2009. In this graph we see that ever since the scientific whaling program began, the annual catch rate for scientific whaling has general been increasing. However, there was one exception as after the scientific whaling catch had rapidly risen from 2003 to 2005 with it reaching it's peak of over 1200 annual catches, there was a steep drop from 2005 to 2006 was due to other countries finding out there was no scientific evidence coming from the program discouraging Japan. This general growing trend up until 2005 was due to the creation of the Moratorium as there were countries like Japan exploiting this program to whale whales since commercial whaling was banned from the Moratorium. However, because of the skepticism on if countries like Japan are really doing scientific whaling or just using as a cover for commercial whaling, pressure has been placed on those countries with the general whaling trend starting to go downwards in the recent years. Throughout this graph we can also conclude that after the moratorium Japan has been the main contributor to scientific whaling as they use it as a legal cover for commercial whaling with only small contributions from other countries including Iceland, Norway and South Korea. As well as that, it is also safe to say that although the Moratorium has drastically reduced Commercial whaling, Scientific whaling had been steadily increasing until the recent years.
Figure 3, Source: http://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/flash/whaling_stats/main.swf
Comparison of the Whales killed for either Scientific or Commercial purposes since the Moratorium
Since the creation of the Moratorium and after it was put into practice, commercial and scientific whaling has been hugely affected. Figure 4 below is a graph which shows the number of whales killed for scientific whaling compared to the ones killed for objection whaling between 1987-2008. It is displayed that the general trend of whales killed for scientific whaling is considerably more than the ones killed for objection whaling. As well as that,the effect of the Moratorium was shown in particular in this graph from the drop in 1988 where the ban of commercial whaling meant that commercial whaling came to a halt for 5 years while scientific whaling had continued. However, it then rose in 1993 again because Norway objected to the moratorium and resumed commercial whaling. Throughout this graph we also see how the creation of the moratorium had meant that more whaling countries would claim they were doing scientific whaling as a legal cover compared to just objecting to the Moratorium and continuing Objection whaling like Norway. As well as that, from this graph we can make the conclusion that there was much more commercial whalers at first but after the Moratorium was put into action many countries used the scientific whaling program as a cover for whaling meaning that the whales hunted for scientific purposes have been steadily increasing while whales hunted for the commercial industry has drastically decreased.
Figure 4, source: "WWF.com"