21.   Japanese proponents of whaling say, however, that increasing whale populations are gobbling up other fish stocks.

22.   Japan insists that whale populations have now grown so big that they are threatening the marine environment by eating too much fish.

23.   Japan and its allies believe whale populations in many parts of the world are strong enough to withstand some hunting.

24.   Japan, which has been trying to get the ban revoked for years, claims whale populations have recovered enough to sustain limited catches.

25.   Japanese officials say the growing whale population is harming fishing.

26.   Limited catches would differ for each whale species and catch quotas would be based, season to season, on the size of whale populations.

27.   Ohashi said the Nisshin-maru has reported that the average age of the hunted minks whales is lower than usual, an indication the whale population is growing.

28.   Opponents say whale population is uncertain, that harpooning is cruel, and that whales are intelligent creatures that should not be killed at all.

29.   Responsible whaling, he says, would not have the catastrophic effects on world whale populations that moratorium supporters fear.

30.   Takayama said that observation alone might work in research on very small whale populations, but not for one like that of the minkes in the Antarctic sanctuary.