Study uncovers troubling sources of Japanese whale meat
July 2nd, 2009 by cdunaganIs all whaling the same? I don’t think so, but I am beginning to see why anti-whaling groups wish to draw a line in the sand and stop all whale killing.
I admit I am fascinated by the program “Whale Wars” on the Animal Planet network. The weekly show gives us an inside look at how the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society confronts Japanese whalers in the Antarctic.
I also admit to believing that Japanese whalers are probably not taking enough minke whales to harm the regional population in the Antarctic. And surely the so-called “scientific research” is at least keeping track of the populations, the number of whales killed and their genetic makeup.
But new research coming out of Oregon State University has profoundly shifted my attitude about Japanese whaling and the dire need for increased international attention.
DNA analysis of whale meat sold to the public has revealed that perhaps as many whales are killed in coastal areas near Japan and South Korea — where whaling is outlawed under international agreement — as are taken in the Antarctic.
How can this be?
The dead minke whales from coastal waters, apparently not always counted, are attributed to incidental “bycatch” in net fisheries, according to Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at OSU.
Japan and South Korea are the only countries that allow this kind of bycatch to be sold, he says.
Baker and his colleague, Vimoksalehi Lukoscheck of the University of California-Irvine, presented their findings at the recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission. It was there that Japan was seeking approval to allow whaling off its coast.
Baker says the Japanese proposal demands careful scrutiny, given his findings and the need to identify and sustain distinct stocks of minke whales.
.“The sale of bycatch alone supports a lucrative trade in whale meat at markets in some Korean coastal cities, where the wholesale price of an adult minke whale can reach as high as $100,000,” Baker said in an OSU news release. “Given these financial incentives, you have to wonder how many of these whales are, in fact, killed intentionally.”
Baker said the bycatch of whales provides a cover for illegal whaling, which is difficult to detect. Last year, Korean police began to look into organized illegal whaling in the port town of Ulsan, where they seized 50 tons minke whale meat.
Baker’s genetic studies have identified other whale meat on the market as well — including some from humpback whales, fin whales, Bryde’s whales and the critically endangered western Pacific gray whales, which may be on the verge of extinction.
I believe hunting has its place in wildlife management, but the Asian marketing in dead whales appears to be out of control and troubling on many levels.
Tags: Japanese whaling, minke whales, Oregon State University, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
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July 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Why can’t the Japanese just eat cow like the rest of us? They just really need to do what we tell them and everything will be alright!
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
One way in which we come to understand the processes of nature is through the study of science. Human curiosity sparks this desire to understand the world around us. We now know that whales are mammals who live in familial pods, sometimes groups of pods, and they traverse thousands of oceanic miles in order to sustain their lives. They talk to each other, they sing, they are curious about the humans who observe them. They have large brains and are extremely intelligent. They are large mammals, and it takes plenty of time and work to kill them while they experience fear and physical suffering.
What we didn’t know and understand in the past should not prevent us from seeing whales as we understand them today, seeing them with our eyes and intellects wide open, such a beautiful, awe-inspiring, intelligent force of nature. A shift of paradigm to appreciate whales for all that we know about them and a desire to learn more about them will serve humanity and the whales more deeply than regarding them as creatures to be slaughtered for food we don’t need.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:21 am
The Japanese poachers are lucky they aren’t slaughtering in Africa, or they would be shot dead on sight.