Editing Whaling (section)

=== Russia ===
{{Main|Whaling in the Soviet Union and Russia}}
The [[Soviet Union|USSR]] had a significant whaling hunt of orcas and dolphins along with Iceland and Japan. The [[Soviet Union]]'s harvest of over 534,000 whales between the 1930s and the 1980s has been called "one of the most senseless environmental crimes of the 20th century" by Charles Homans of the ''[[Pacific Standard]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-senseless-environment-crime-of-the-20th-century-russia-whaling-67774|title = The Most Senseless Environmental Crime of the 20th Century|date = November 12, 2013|access-date = October 12, 2015|website = Pacific Standard|publisher = The Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy|last = Homans|first = Charles}}</ref> In 1970, a study published by Bigg M.A. following photographic recognition of orcas found a significant difference in the suspected ages of whale populations and their actual ages. Following this evidence, the Soviet Union and then Russia continued a scientific whale hunt, though the verisimilitude of the intentions of the hunt over the last 40 years are questioned.<ref>University of Victoria Biology of the Vertebrates of BC lecture material, Dr. T.E. Reimchen</ref><ref>[http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/coe-cde/cemam/teams-equipes/Ford/publications-eng.html Department of Fisheries and Oceans&nbsp;– Science] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043633/https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/coe-cde/cemam/teams-equipes/Ford/publications-eng.html |date=2016-03-04 }}. Dfo-mpo.gc.ca (2011-03-07). Retrieved on 2011-10-11.</ref>

The Soviet Union's intensive illegal whaling program from 1948 to 1973 was controlled and managed by the central government. In Soviet society, whaling was perceived to be a glamorous and well-paid job. Whalers were esteemed as well-traveled adventurers, and their return to land was often celebrated elaborately such as with fanfare and parades. In regard to economics, the Soviet Union transformed from a "rural economy into an industrial giant" by disregarding the sustainability of a resource to fill high production targets.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr761-2/mfr761-21.pdf|title = Too much is never enough: the cautionary tale of Soviet illegal whaling|date = March 2014|access-date = October 28, 2015|website = NOAA|publisher = Marine Fisheries Review|last = Ivaschenko|first = Y.V.}}</ref> The government had controlled all industries, including fisheries, and whaling was not constrained by the need for sustainability through profits. Managers' and workers' production was incentivized with salary bonuses of 25%-60% and various other benefits, awards, and privileges. Many industries, whaling included, became a "manic numbers game".<ref name=":0" />

Currently, the indigenous [[Chukchi people]] in [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug]] in the [[Russian Far East]] are permitted under IWC regulation to take up to 140 [[gray whale]]s from the North-East Pacific population each year. About 40{{Failed verification|date=April 2024}} [[beluga whale]]s are caught in the Sea of Okhotsk each year.<ref name="bettridge">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/documents/status_review_of_sakhalin_bay-amur_river_beluga_whale.pdf |title=Status Review of the Sakhalin Bay-Amur River Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act |last=Bettridge |first=Shannon, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Melissa Andersen Garcia, Rod C. Hobbs, Cheri L. McCarty, Richard D. Methot Jr., Debra L. Palka, Patricia E. Rosel, Kathryn S. Swails, and Barbara L. Taylor |date=2016-03-01 |website=cites Shpak, Meschersky, Hobbs, Andrews, Glazov, Chelintsev, Kuznetsova, Solovyev, Nazarenko, Michaud, and Mukhametov. 2011. Current status of the Sakhalin-Amur beluga aggregation (The Okhotsk Sea, Russia): sustainability assessment. Report for 2007–2010 stages: Report presented at IUCN Independent Scientific Review Panel, Chicago, March 6–7, 2011 (unpublished). 68p and 5 Appendices. |access-date=2018-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430213702/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/documents/status_review_of_sakhalin_bay-amur_river_beluga_whale.pdf |archive-date=2017-04-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
There are no recent data on catches in the Arctic Ocean or Bering Sea, where about 60 belugas per year were caught in the early 1980s.<ref name="burns">{{Cite web |url=https://www.boem.gov/ESPIS/0/81.pdf |title=Investigations of Belukha Whales in Coastal Waters of Western and Northern Alaska II. Biology and Ecology  |last=Burns |first=John J. and Glenn A. Seaman |date=1986-11-01 |series=Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program |publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game |access-date=2018-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327213932/https://www.boem.gov/ESPIS/0/81.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>