Regarding the June 20 Kyodo article "WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) raps use of taxes for whaling": About 1 million minke whales in the oceans consume about 400 million tons of fish per year, while mankind consumes about 90 million tons of fish per year, according to Kanagawa Prefecture. With consumption by whales so disproportionately large, it is important to continue research so that this disproportion does not grow.
Pork and beef sometimes face problems like "swine flu" (H1N1 influenza) and mad cow disease. Great amounts of water are needed to raise pigs and cows. This will cause problems in the future when water shortages become more acute. Fish will become more important as a stable source of protein. Historians in the future will judge that the tax money used to support the commercially unprofitably whaling industry was not wasted.