EMOTION, according to the Japanese government, should play no part in decisions about commercial whaling.

ECONOMIST: A return to commercial whaling remains unlikely

But critics say the hunt is commercial whaling in another guise and has no scientific value.

BBC: US court brands whale activists Sea Shepherd 'pirates'

Iceland is already under fire from the conservation lobby over its recent decision to resume commercial whaling.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Ban on 'brutal' fishing blocked

The Southern Ocean Sanctuary was set aside in 1994 as an area where commercial whaling is prohibited.

CNN: Japan attempts to abolish whale sanctuary

Populations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were seriously depleted by commercial whaling but have been protected in most areas for the last 50 years, and most populations are growing.

MSN: Breaching humpback whales steal the show on fishing trip

Australia's commissioner Donna Petrochenko, for example, was as forthright as her populace would demand in declaring that "Australia is resolutely opposed to commercial whaling in any form" and "strongly supports the moratorium".

BBC: South Korea's whaling: Faux and cons

Rapacious and uncontrolled commercial whaling (most notably by Britain and America in the 18th and 19th centuries) did indeed drive many species, such as the right whale and the sperm whale, close to extinction.

ECONOMIST: Obduracy in the face of hypocrisy

In reality, pollution, merchant shipping and commercial fishing all pose far greater threats to the world's whale populations than any likely commercial-whaling industry might.

ECONOMIST: Obduracy in the face of hypocrisy