Not sure if this has something directly to do with US foreign policy insofar as the US keeps a fairly low profile. That said, I think you can imagine how Norwegians, Icelanders and Japanese would react to the idea of being subject to trade sanctions by the Bush administration over “environmental offenses” and “defiance of international opinion”!

The North Atlantic minke whale does have codfish on the menu, but it’s not its primary food, nor is a cull of 1 percent minke enough to affect the stocks — I would guess, but I’m no expert. The main positive effect of the whaling is that it allows tiny fishing communities in the far north to survive the summer months by providing subsidiary income for the fishermen in the off-season. So while it’s totally unnecessary for the nation, locally it’s very different.

But I know the Japanese are arguing that whales in their waters compete with their fishermen for fish. Also, I do believe Greenpeace and various governments should focus on the global collapse of fish stocks due to overfishing a little more, even though codfish are less charismatic than cetaceans and not protagonists in a Melville novel.

I think I saw your picture at dKos once — no, I’m sure you don’t eat too much!