ENVIRONMENT: Japan Spites Whaling Ban With Gourmet Offerings

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO , Jun 1 2006 (IPS) - Japan is defiantly preparing for the annual meet of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), in the West Indies this month, by going on a promotion drive for whale meat and other products.

A whale meat festival held at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, in May, featured gourmet dishes such as whale sashimi, sushi, stews and a host of frozen and canned items.

Posters and leaflets in the large exhibition hall extolled the virtues and benefits of eating whale meat that is claimed to lower cholesterol. Whale products such as collagen are touted as ideal for cosmetics while medicinal creams made from whale oil are advertised as having healing properties for burns and skin conditions.

With the IWC conference scheduled to begin on Jun. 16 at St. Kitts, the whale meat festival is only one of several projects indirectly promoting whaling run by Japan’s influential Institute of Cetacean Research, known for its aggressively pro-whaling stance.

The government already promotes whale meat by serving it up in public school lunches and there are moves to include whale meat items such as burghers in cafeterias in hospitals and public offices such as those housing Japan’s Self Defence Forces.

Japan is allowed to engage in limited culling for ‘scientific’ purposes, but the open sale and promotion of whale meat in schools, offices and fast food restaurants point towards the real intention – to revive commercial whaling.

”Japan’s scientific whaling expeditions during the past years have proven that populations of certain species of whales have grown significantly and thus do not face the threat of extinction,” said Gabriella Gomes, spokeswoman for the research institute.

On May 1, the CRI launched a new whale meat company, ‘The Whale Food Laboratory’, with a capital of around 250,000 US dollars in the heart of Tokyo. The company, manned by a staff that includes chefs, sells various whale meat products and teaches consumers how to cook whale dishes.

”Eating whale meat is a tradition in Japan and this culture must be protected and kept alive,” said Gabriella.

Whale meat is supplied through Japan’s steadily increasing catches under its so-called scientific expeditions in the Southern Ocean. Some 850 minki and other species, such as the fin whale, were caught between November 2005 and February 2006- double the number from the previous year. In Pacific Ocean expeditions Japanese whalers brought back another 320 whales in the same season.

Japan’s ‘scientific whaling’ is bitterly opposed by anti-whaling campaigners who see the expeditions as a loophole for commercial hunting that poses a threat to the survival of the mammals.

”Scientific whaling is not conducted with the aim of preserving the species but rather to lay open the road to a resumption of the trade in the future. Whaling is an important issue of national pride for the government,” said Sakae Henmi, of Elsa Conservation Group, a leading animal protection network.

Indeed, the fisheries ministry calls for ‘sustainable whaling’ and argues vehemently against the 1982 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling, calling it unfair to pro-whaling countries.

But, Henmi says random surveys conducted by the group have found that most Japanese are not interested in whale meat, which is why the government has launched a large promotion campaign to renew interest and public support for whaling.

”Mothers tell me they are opposed to whale meat being forced on their children when served in school lunches,” she said.

Henmi points out that Japan’s rich economy has expanded its food culture, allowing the public to eat a wide variety of meat, a fact that goes against given reasons to continue with large-scale whaling.

”Whale food was served during the war as a cheap source of protein. But the post-war whaling ban has resulted in most people not eager to increase their consumption of the meat that involves killing of these great mammals,” she said.

But this same argument is used by Gabriella to support Japan’s pro-whaling stance. ”Even if commercial whaling is resumed there is no fear of large-scale consumption because the Japanese public now eats a variety of food.”

Juichi Sato, in charge of whaling at Greenpeace, Japan, says conservationists must now fight back by working harder to raise public awareness about the danger posed to the survival of whales. ‘’We must show the ludicrousness of Japan’s whaling stance. Pouring tax money to prop up a dying whaling trade is not beneficial to the public that has shown little interest in buying whale meat. These issues must be brought to the open,” he said.

Conservationists warn that the latest developments in Tokyo mirror the government’s push to get the upcoming IWC meeting in St. Kitts to approve secret balloting and then persuade or induce smaller countries to vote for renewed whaling.

Plans are said to be afoot to overturn the moratorium on commercial whaling, although Japan would need to canvass 75 percent of the votes to do that. In the past, Japanese officials have admitted to offering overseas aid in return for support in its unrelenting campaign to have the moratorium lifted.

Australia, which staunchly opposes Japan’s plans, has been lobbying South Pacific countries to vote against a lifting of the ban on whaling but has met with little success. Countries like Kiribati and the Marshall Islands have given no guarantee as to which way they will vote.