Whale watching in Japan more profitable than whaling.

From Breitbart:

The whale and dolphin watching industry in Japan is growing annually by around 6.4 percent and last year generated nearly $23 million in revenues, according to a new report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Environmentalists publicized the data on Wednesday in an attempt to show whaling nations the benefits of focusing on conservation rather than hunting.

In the report, IFAW revealed that 13 million people took whale and dolphin watching tours in 119 countries in 2008, generating ticket fees and tourism expenditures of more than $2.1 billion.

According to IFAW, the number of people who participated in whale and dolphin watching tours in Japan stood at 191,970 in 2008, with the figures showing an average annual growth rate of 6.4 percent over the last 10 years.

There were 104 tour operators in Japan last year, generating $7,375,076 in direct revenues from ticket sales, with an additional $15,345,902 being produced in tourism revenue for the local economy, the report stated.

The whale watching industry in Japan is the most profitable in Asia, according to one of the contributors to the document, pointing out that it generates much more in revenue than the subsidized whale meat industry.