Scientists believe they’ve discovered proof of a new form of unregulated whaling along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea – “bycatch” whaling. “Bycatch” refers to whales killed incidentally by legal coastal fisheries.
Japan and South Korea are the only countries allow for the commercial sale of “bycatch” whale products.
According to Scott Baker of Oregon State University, “DNA analysis of whale-meat products sold in Japanese markets suggests that the number of whales actually killed through this ‘bycatch whaling’ may be equal to that killed through Japan’s scientific whaling program – about 150 annually from each source.”
Along with Vimoksalehi Lukoscheck of the University of California-Irvine, Baker told the International Whaling Commission at its most recent conference that “46 percent of the minke whale products they examined in Japanese markets originated from a coastal population, which has distinct genetic characteristics, and is protected by international agreements.”
In past years, Japan has reported as few as 19 minke whales killed in a single year through bycatch. According to Baker, the price of an adult minke whale can reach as high as $100,000, and he says, “Given these financial incentives, you have to wonder how many of these whales are, in fact, killed intentionally.”
In 2008, Korean police broke up an illegal whaling operation in Ulsan, where they reportedly seized 50 tons of minke whale meat.
Recent Comments