The International Politics of Whaling

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

The International Politics of Whaling is a fascinating and timely
account of a major collision involving environment, economics, politics,
and ethics. Within the context of international ecopolitics, the author
provides an analysis of the International Whaling Commission that
considers such critical features as open environments and national
sovereignties. His book offers a useful review of the diversity and
biology of whales, the history of whalers and whaling management, the
establishment of sanctuaries, the emergence of whale watching, and the
influence of environmentalists (including the radical Paul Watson).

Stoett discusses the broad issue of the morality of whaling at length,
addressing along the way such topics as habitat preservation, the
controversy of aboriginal and coastal whaling, and Green politician Gro
Brundtland’s role as an apologist for Norwegian whaling. The text is
crisp, well organized, and supplemented by notes, appendices, and an
index whose inadequacy is among the book’s minor flaws. Highly
recommended.