Are Japanese losing the taste for whale?

Scotsman.com News - International - Are Japanese losing the taste for whale?:

"Toshoku's plight is not unique. Some 1,000 tonnes of the meat hit the market in Japan last year, a 65 per cent increase from 1995. But slow demand means stockpiles have almost doubled in five years to 2,750 tons in 2004. In the same five-year period, the average price of whale plunged almost 30 per cent, to 2,560 yen (£12.40) a kilogramme in 2004.

However, the surplus hasn't stopped the harpoon guns. Japan plans to kill - under a 'research programme' - some 1,070 minke whales in 2006, about 400 more than last year and more than double the number it hunted a decade ago. It will also hunt ten fin whales and a total of 160 Bryde's, sei and sperm whales, a fisheries official said."

The prices may have come down because of the excess...so why kill all the whales? What's that all about? Many countries have moved on from what were traditional things to eat because life and times have changed. Real yoghurt isn't really popular anymore. We have stopped cannibalism. A lot of people no longer eat pig's trotters. Many people used to eat pungent, oily, fatty food.Poeple don't spread their bread with dripping and lard. We are the lettuce leaf society now. It is not in your DNA to eat certain foods. You eat what is the trend and what is available. Food tastes and habits change, but there is no point in eating things which are protected or which most nations/people reject. We cannot eat dogs and cats. Biologically and nutritionally there is no reason for it, but people really find it offensive and societies run on peer support and peer approval. Always have and always will.