The researchers suggest a new system, in which permits are given out that grant the right to kill a whale, with a clever twist: The permits could then be auctioned, allowing environmental groups to buy them from the whalers, limiting the hunt. Whales could be saved - for a price. It’s a creative proposal that offers a novel approach where one is badly needed: Whaling policy is stuck in the wrong century.

Whale hunting goes back millennia, but by the 18th century, new maritime technology made the practice truly intensive. When the market for whale oil boomed, ports like Nantucket and New Bedford flowed with tremendous wealth; the mansions of whale captains still stand, and still impress. The whalers became too good at their vocation, though, and whale populations plummeted.

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