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== A brief introduction on whales == Whales generally refer to the animals within the scientific infraorder Cetacea, which is further divided into two monophyletic group, baleen whale (Mysticeti) and toothed whale (Odontoceti). Each group has inherently unique social structure and behavior causing their divergence 50 million years ago. Morphologically baleen whales have larger body size, while toothed whales are smaller; socially baleen whales are solitude or merely form temporary groups lasting for a couple of days for the sake of cooperation forage, while toothed whales are highly social, usually forming long-lasting groups called pods; and behaviorally baleen whales seasonally migrate between the poles and tropic to balance between feeding grounds and rearing grounds. Besides, toothed whales frequently use vocal signal to navigate and communicate, and have a brain to body size ratio comparable to that of humans, therefore reckoned as a highly intelligent group of animals. Although generally not considered as "whales", dolphins and porpoises taxonomically belong to the toothed whale subgroup.

International Whaling Commission
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to decide hunting quotas and other relevant matters based on the findings of its Scientific Committee. The original purpose of IWC, according to ICRW, was to conserve the whale stocks and ensure their sustainability as a commercial good. It was also indicated that whales as a common pooled resources of all human beings had been overexploited, and that it was to the whole society's benefit to enforce regulations on their exploitation. The Commission broadly applies to any water where whales exist and are taken, and all the factory ships, land stations and whale catchers belonging to the Contracting Governments are under regulation. Based on scientific findings, a Schedule is also set to manage operational details, amendment to which requires three quarters vote among the contracting parties. It regulates hunting of 13 species of great whales, and has not reached consensus on whether it may regulate smaller species. Non-member countries are not bound by its regulations and conduct their own management programs.

In terms of regulational efforts, there has been three distinct phases along the development of IWC. The first phase, "Whaler's Club", ranging from 1948 to mid 1960s, was characterized by continuing intense economic exploitation during a short harvesting period and thus resulted in extirpation of many whale stocks. At this period, it was scientifically infeasible to monitor whale population so reduction scope of this period was not quantified. During the second phase, accompanied by more countries entering the IWC more conservation efforts had been employed, largely because of the substantial decrease in the whale populations and consequential difficulty for whalers in finding whales. Most whaling countries had to shut down their whaling market, except Japan and Soviet Union. As environmental campaign proceeded and large population gradually realized the whales ecological importance, the IWC shifted from the second conservation phase to the third phase, protection. It was seen as morally false to kill whales for commercial use. As a result, the IWC voted on July 23, 1982, to establish a moratorium on commercial whaling of great whales beginning in the 1985–86 season. Notably, aboriginal whaling was still allowed, due to their disparate purpose and scale compared to commercial whaling. Since 1992, the IWC's Scientific Committee has requested that it be allowed to give quota proposals for some whale stocks, but this has so far been refused by the Plenary Committee.

However, the pro-whaling stance has gained prevalence among the Contracting Countries in recent years. This circumstance is imputed to Japan's rent-seeking behavior: it offers financial assistance to neutral countries entering the IWC and voicing for it in order to keep the larger profit obtained from whaling. Thereafter, regardless the 24-year-long moratorium, Norway and Iceland reinitiated their commercial whaling, but to a limited quantity endorsed by scientific evidence supporting sustainable whale harvest.

At the 2010 meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Morocco, representatives of the 88 member states discussed whether or not to lift the 24-year ban on commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland have urged the organisation to lift the ban. A coalition of anti-whaling nations has offered a compromise plan that would allow these countries to continue whaling, but with smaller catches and under close supervision. Their plan would also completely ban whaling in the Southern Ocean. More than 200 scientists and experts have opposed the compromise proposal for lifting the ban, and have also opposed allowing whaling in the Southern Ocean, which was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994. Opponents of the compromise plan want to see an end to all commercial whaling, but are willing to allow subsistence-level catches by indigenous peoples.