Whaling is a commercial, social and cultural practice that has been analysed within the present publication primarily from a legal standpoint, as supplemented by some analysis from ethical and socio-cultural standpoints. The analysis appears to support the following conclusions.

Whaling is a practice that lacks homogeneity in that it takes place for different purposes – commercial, cultural, scientific, and varying combinations of these three – and in relation to different species. As a result, when we examine the question of any regulation in this field, we need to ask in relation to which purpose is whaling being conducted, and over which species. However, whaling raises not only legal questions but also questions that concern cultural diversity and the rights of animals, as well as questions concerning general environmental ethics. All these concerns result in a whole catalogue of contentious issues, given that it juxtaposes sets of rights and obligations against each other. This lack of homogeneity suggests that legal solutions – such as the development of a cohesive multilateral regime – must ensure that they sufficiently accommodate the various considerations at play.

The 2014 ICJ Whaling in the Antarctic case has, in the view of the present author, contributed to the solution of these contentious issues only to a limited degree (as of course was expected from the limited nature of the case). In the first place, it only dealt with one aspect of whaling, namely, scientific whaling – and more specifically, Japanese scientific whaling in the Antarctic. The Judgment, however, has shed some light on those obligations of Japan that may also be shared by other States. In order to find a solution to the impasse within the IWC, in the view of the present author, however, whaling needs to be analysed in a comprehensive and holistic manner, as the various types of whaling are not entirely disassociated from one another, and scientific whaling cannot be assessed without an analysis of the commercial dimension that may arise; and this is also the case with aboriginal subsistence whaling within the framework of the IWC.

However, whaling is conducted outside the IWC, and there is also whaling conducted within the remit of NAMMCO. This still does not exhaust all the potential problems: there is also regulation of whaling, or at least its trade aspects (to be more precise) by other multilateral environmental agreements such as CITES.