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.
More news from the world of whales:
I have a friend in Rome named Moby Dickus
- Interview with Jake Heggie, Moby Dick Opera Composer (KERA)
- This web site is the only one I’ve come across that says South Korea is DEFINITELY set to resume whaling
- Animal Planet wins TV Academy Honors Award for “Whale Wars” (Hollywood Reporter)
- Comic version of Moby Dick featuring art by Bill Sienkiewicz to be re-released this summer (CBR)
- At least one guy in San Diego is sick of that whale in the bay (SD Union Tribune)
2007 Protest in Korea against Japanese Whaling (Photo from AP Photo by Ahn Young-joon)
South Korea To Possibly Resume Whaling
There’s not a ton of mainstream press coverage out there about this week’s IWC meeting in Rome, but there is one story that appears to be getting some pick-up: South Korea warned that they would consider a resumption of whaling if Japan is allowed to hunt for whales in its coastal waters.
South Korea said that it, like Japan, has impoverished coastal fishing communities which could benefit from whaling quotas. Conservationists say that minke whales in South Korean coastal waters already face extinction because of “by-catching” (i.e., whales being “accidentally” caught in fishing nets, then sold for food). And there’s a general fear among anti-whaling IWC nations and conservation groups that even more countries are likely to resume whaling if Japan is allowed to hunt for whales close to home.
The Steve Irwin Docked in Hobart (source: Witty lama)
Japan Claims They Are The Victim of “Eco-terrorism”
This Italian blog claims that Japan showed a video at this week’s conference called “Escalating Violence against Research Vessels by Eco-activists.” The Institute of Cetacean Research – the Japanese agency which oversees the country’s “scientific whaling” – has posted many videos on it’s web site under the header “Illegal Harassment and Terrorism Against ICR Research.” One rather dramatic video does show the Steve Irwin apparently ramming a Japanese vessel marked “Research” as it drags a dead, or dying, whale through the ocean. (click here to download)
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