"Commercial whaling" refers to the hunting and killing of whales for profit or economic reasons. It involves catching and selling whales for their meat, blubber, or other valuable body parts. Full definition
Here's a related animated map of commercial whale catches from 1900 to 2011. (dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com)
The disclosure in California comes as the International Whaling Commission considers a compromise that would end the longstanding moratorium on commercial whaling in return for Japan and other whaling countries reducing * their independent whale hunts. (dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com)
Urging whale - friendly governments to «step it up» in pressing for stronger protection for whales and turning back efforts to dilute the worldwide commercial whaling moratorium; (hsi.org)