Here is what Tim Flannery reckons:
When, in the concluding chapters of
The Future Eaters (1994), Flannery discusses how to "utilise our few renewable resources in the least destructive way", he remarks that
A far better situation for conservation in Australia would result from a policy which allows exploitation of all
of our biotic heritage, provided that it all be done in a sustainable manner[I]. ...
f it is possible to harvest for example, 10 mountain pygmy-possums (Burramys parvus) or 10 southern right whales (Balaena glacialis) per year, why should we not do it? ... Is it more moral to kill and consume a whale, without cost to the environment, than to live as a vegetarian in Australia, destroying seven kilograms of irreplaceable soil, ... for each kilogram of bread we consume?[31]In late 2007, Flannery suggested that the
Japanese whaling involving the relatively common
Minke Whale may be
sustainable:
In terms of sustainability, you can't be sure that the Japanese whaling is entirely unsustainable... It's hard to imagine that the whaling would lead to a new decline in population[32]This raised concerns among some environmental groups such as Greenpeace,
[33][34] fearing it could add
fuel to the Japanese wish of continuing its annual cull.