The Japanese whalers never overfished minke whales, and the coastal minke population has been considered to be healthy by the IWC Scientific　Committee. Despite this, the moratorium is imposed comprehensively; it was meant to stop all commercial whaling operations, even if there were and are　a large number of certain species of whales. As a result, the Japanese whalers are now forbidden to conduct their traditional small-type coastal whaling operations for minkes, even though the stocks could sustain a managed harvest.