Cut to pieces

摘要

Last week, pro and anti-whaling nations went head to head in Japan to decide the future of the world's whales. As usual, both sides walked away from the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission having gained nothing but a renewed sense of antipathy towards each other. This time, however, the realpolitik could have a little-noticed but potentially disastrous consequence. The very future of the IWC and the world's whales may finally be undone not by disagreements over large-scale commercial hunting or ocean-wide sanctuaries, but by whether aboriginal groups around the world should be allowed to catch a few dozen whales to feed their families.