Whale meat promotion in Japan

There is a disturbing article in the Sunday, June 19, Washington Post (Page A19, but front page in some editions) headed, "In Japan, Cultivating A Taste For Whale; Government Effort Targets Children."

It opens:
"An animated group of schoolchildren from this suburban town in northern Japan poured into their gymnasium Thursday afternoon and listened raptly to a whale expert give a talk on the gentle giants of the sea. They passed around whale teeth and were told about the growing abundance of the world's largest mammals before diving into the lecture's main course -- heaping plates of deep-fried whale chunks.

"As part of a program by the Japanese government and the fishing industry to rebuild Japan's endangered taste for whale, the students -- some with less enthusiasm than others -- dug into the crispy whale nuggets dished out into little plastic lunchboxes. After the feast, the children headed home with official 'Whale Books' loaded with helpful tips including how to defrost whale meat (over two days) as well as recipes for whale burgers and whale soup."

There is a quote from a 7-year old:
"I guess I do feel sorry for the whales. But I ate it anyway because it looked so good. And when I ate it, I liked it. Whale is really delicious."

We read, " Japan is lobbying hard to overthrow a nearly two-decade-old moratorium on commercial whaling at the 57th International Whaling Commission meeting in South Korea next week. Officials are also locked in a struggle back home to rekindle the nation's ebbing tradition of eating whale....Though commercial whaling has been banned since the 1980s to protect whales from being hunted to extinction, Japan still brings in the world's largest catch from annual harvests of legal 'scientific whaling.' Research shows that whale meat has become readily available to Japanese consumers at specialty restaurants and gourmet grocery stores nationwide....Japan is set to unveil a plan next week to almost double 'scientific whaling' of Antarctic minke whales, from 440 to more than 850, and fresh kills of humpbacks and fin whales for the first time in decades, according to diplomats familiar with the proposal.
Japan, leading a pro-whaling bloc in the International Whaling Commission, is seeking to wrest control of the 62-nation body from anti-whaling nations, led by Australia and New Zealand.
Observers say pro-whaling nations are likely to fall short of the three-quarters majority needed to reinstate commercial whaling. But they are within one or two votes of securing a simple majority as early as Monday, according to diplomatic sources."

However we read,
"Some opinion polls show that younger generations of Japanese are more interested in conservation than culinary delights. The price for whale meat in Japan has decreased in recent years -- falling to $12 a pound in 2004 compared with $15 a pound in 1999. Demand for whale meat has been anemic. Last year, the industry put 20 percent of its 4,000-ton haul into frozen surplus."

That is why "the government and pro-whaling groups have pumped cash into the promotion of eating whale meat."

You can read the whole article on line at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061800890.html
OR http://tinyurl.com/da526

It creates a good opportunity for letters to the editor on various aspects of animal protection and conservation. Since pigs, eaten by the millions in the USA, are no less sentient than whales, some animal advocates may want to turn towards a discussion of factory farming. A good resource on the issue is http://www.FactoryFarming.com

The Washington Post takes letters at letters [at] washpost.com and advises, "Please do not send attachments.... Letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post, and must include the writer's home address and home and business telephone numbers."


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)