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Could it be that you don't know what that word means?

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What are they supposed to eat for protien?

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Fish, like red meat and poultry, is high in protein. The exact protein content of a piece of fish depends on the type of fish and how it was prepared, but ounce-for-ounce many varieties have comparable protein contents to chicken, pork and beef. http://www.ehow.com/about_5340746_much-protein-fish.html we Americans eat far too LITTLE of.

As to whaling, I call bullshit. There are many alternatives, to begin with, and

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During recent international debates concerning the potential resumption of commercial whaling, whale meat has frequently been promoted as a good food. Recent research into the diet of Faroe Islanders and Inuit Indians has revealed that consumption of marine mammal tissues can cause them to exceed recommended intake levels for various pollutants. Whales throughout the world have been found to accumulate high concentrations of lipophilic compounds and, while the precise health risks associated are unclear, the findings for the Faroe Islanders and Inuits may prove not to be unique, particularly if commercial whaling is resumed. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=870228&show=h
tml the same is probably true of a steady diet of fish, given the life span of a whale, one might extrapolate that they accumulate more levels of toxins. I don't know enough to debate the issue.

Also as to whaling, they can easily be considered MORE sentient than beef, goats, pigs, chickens or any of the other animals we eat. The Japanese hunt whales for a number of reasons, few having to do with diet, or even taste, but most having to do with culture and pride.

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This history is an important part of why the Japanese continue to hunt whales. Attempts to stop the nation's whaling are perceived by many as a threat to Japanese culture. According to its defenders, eating whale meat is an old and impenetrable Japanese tradition.

A sense of pride also fuels Japan's commitment to whaling. To some, the words and actions of those who oppose Japanese whaling are "culturally arrogant" and unnecessarily harsh. This only serves to strengthen the country's resolve to maintain its whaling, according to some. http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/whaling/why-japanese-hunt-wh
ales.html issue is not whether they hunt them, it's SUSTAINABILITY. The Japanese would happily hunt whales until there are no more whales left, that's the crux of the problem.

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The official reason that Japan gives for their continued whale hunting is "scientific research". They say the only way to determine the whale's age is to kill it. The purpose of the "research" is to prove that whale populations have improved enough to allow commercial whaling which was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

However, the whale meat is sold as a delicacy. It is likely this is the real reason for the whale hunting. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_the_Japanese_hunt_whales use all kinds of ruses to hunt whales which have little or nothing to do with "scientific research" and there is lots of material on this.

In that respect it's the same as their horrendous practice of "finning". Shark fins are a delicacy, not a necessity, and are relatively tasteless, but again we run into "tradition". While once considered only available to the rich, Japan's economy is such that now the middle class can afford it. And they do, to the detriment of many beyond the sharks themselves.

The predator/prey balance is delicate, and as usual, man's interference has upset this.

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In some waters, several shark species have all but vanished since 1972, including 99% of the bull, dusky and smooth hammerhead populations.

And because fishing expeditions tend to catch larger individuals, the average size of the survivors has plummeted. Mighty animals like the tiger and black-tip sharks are now up to half as long as they used to be.

Unsuprisingly, as the sharks declined, their prey benefited. Great sharks mainly hunt smaller predators, including their close relatives skates, rays, and indeed, smaller sharks, whose numbers surged in their absence.

The cownose ray, for example, is now ten times more common than it was in the mid-70s.

And here’s where the domino effects begin.

It turns out that large sharks inadvertently carry out a sort of protection racket for animals at the bottom of the food chain.By taking out the mid-level predators, they prevented these lesser hunters from decimating stocks of small fish and invertebrates.

In 1996, the ray explosion started to spell the end for the scallops. By 2004, the local North Carolina scallop fisheries which had thrived for centuries were forced to close and remain closed to this day. Little did the locals imagine that the disappearance of dangerous sharks from their waters could have such strongly felt economic consequences.

This is far from an isolated incident. In Ariake Sound off Japan, shark fishing is particularly intense, and a booming population of long-headed eagle rays has decimated shellfish populations just like their cownose cousins in the Atlantic. http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/shark-hunting-
harms-animals-at-bottom-of-the-food-chain/ usual, man is short-sighted and dumb when it comes to his proclivities.

Whaling and finning are two issues close to my heart, so tho' I know this is off the subject of bacon, etc., it's important to me. You have NO idea how long and hard we fought to finally get the IWC to ban some whaling, and how much we celebrated when they finally DID (always knowing, as usual, that it would only be a partial success and that it could be reversed any time).