The Battle Isn't Over.

Who'd have thought that a 100-foot-long ocean creature with a heart the size of a small car would be the first cause celebre for conservationists? In 1982, with 13 major species of whales teetering on the brink of extinction, the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whale hunting. Since then, the Northern Pacific gray whale has been taken off the endangered-species list--the only whale to make it back from the brink.

Now whaling countries are arguing that, with some whales once again in abundance, the moratorium is no longer necessary. The issue came to a head in June when the 51 member countries of the IWC met in Berlin. Whaling countries made their case for increased quotas, and Iceland, which hasn't hunted whales for 20 years, said it wants to enter the chase once again. The IWC, which is dominated by anti-whaling countries, wasn't having any of that. It called for more stringent enforcement of existing whaling rules and established a conservation committee. The Japanese delegation walked out of the meeting. If saving a creature as popular as whales can be this hard, what hope is there for tuna?

One reason the issue has heated up is that even small whales like the minke are commanding bigger prices than ever--as much as $30,000 wholesale. That amounts to a fair-size business for Norway, which is allowed to catch 711 minkes a year. Since this catch constitutes less than 1 percent of the North Atlantic fishery's local population, says Norway, the quota should be increased. Norway also argues that it's been a good public citizen: It takes DNA samples of each whale when it's caught and when it's ...