Some Really Good News from Japan

Major Japanese supermarket chain bans sales of dolphin meat

Dec 28, 2006

Media Alert
THE SAVE JAPAN DOLPHINS COALITION
Animal Welfare Institute * Earth Island Institute * Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan * In Defense of Animals * One Voice - France

Contact: Richard O'Barry, Phone/Fax: (305) 668-1619
Mobile Phone: (786) 973-8618
E-mail: ricobarry@bellsouth.net

For The Japan Times: Boyd Harnell
Mobile Phone: 81-909-319-4267
E-mail: harnell@gol.com

On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban on dolphin meat is official, and the supermarket chain will decide if the ban is to be permanent after they test their own samples.

Mercury Contamination in Dolphin Meat

During our last campaign in the Japanese fishing village Taiji, where each year hundreds of dolphins are brutally slaughtered, we visited several of the nearby supermarkets owned by the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation. The supermarkets are located in Taiji, Katsuura, and Shingu. Our team was very visible with our cameras in hand, and we asked some hard questions:

1. Would you sell imported American or Australian beef if you knew mercury levels were the same dangerous levels as the dolphin meat caught in Taiji?

2. Why don't you conduct an independent test on your products to see if the mercury levels are safe?

3. The front page of The Japan Times reported the unsafe mercury levels in the dolphin meat on November 1, 2006. Why do you continue to sell the tainted dolphin meat?

4. Are you not concerned by potential lawsuits by consumers that are buying your mercury-tainted dolphin meat?

We also informed the supermarkets that Dr. Tetsuya Endo, of the Hokkaido Health Science University, the Dai Ichi Health Science University and New Zealand Health Science University conducted a three-year joint study on mercury levels of dolphin meat from dolphins caught off the coast of Japan -- including Taiji. They found very high levels of mercury in every sample of dolphin meat that they tested. Their conclusion: nobody should consume dolphin meat. Dr. Endo is a highly respected Japanese scientist. His report on mercury tainted dolphin meat was published in 2005.

The fact that the Japanese Minister of Health and Welfare has known about the danger yet chose not to warn the public about it defies all logic.

As we reported in our Taiji blog on December 12th , we bought a package of striped dolphin meat from the Shingu Okuwa Supermarket and delivered it to The Japan Times in Tokyo to be independently tested. Here are the results: The second random sample of dolphin meat (iruka niku) sold at the Shingu Central Okuwa Supermarket was tested for total mercury with a readout of 5.40 ppm -- 14 times above the Koseisho's advisory level of 0.4 ppm. The first sample tested in February was over 4 times the advisory level at 1.77 ppm.

Dolphin Meat Now Banned

Now here's the good news that we have all been waiting for: On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban on dolphin meat is official, and they will decide if the ban is to be permanent after they test their own samples. The testing will be done in Tokyo by an independent laboratory. Based on the science that we have seen, the results from the independent lab tests are predictable, and we expect the ban on dolphin meat in this supermarket chain to be permanent.

The Save Japan Dolphins coalition salutes the Okuwa Supermarket chain for their bold decision. We also salute the only newspaper in Japan reporting this most urgent and controversial issue. Journalist and photographer Boyd Harnell wrote the story for The Japan Times.

Supply and Demand

Now that one of the largest supermarket chain in Japan has banned the sale of dolphin meat, it's going to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for other markets in Japan to continue selling any dolphin meat.

Approximately 23,000 dolphins, porpoises and other small whales are slaughtered in Japan every year. Where is all of this poisoned dolphin meat going? Nobody knows for sure. Some have speculated that it might be exported to North Korea and China. These countries have a protein shortage and welcome any help that they can get. But do they know that they are importing Japan's mercury contaminated dolphin meat? Probably not. We know from some studies done in Japan by non-governmental organizations (NGO's) that a lot of the meat from Japan's so-called "scientitic whaling" scheme, which violates the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling, is being stored in freezers in Japan because there is not enough demand to sell the stuff. We are not sure where the dolphin meat is going but are encouraged by knowing that the demand side is drying up in Japan.

Beginning of the End?

Could this important new development be the beginning of the end for the Japanese dolphin hunters? They have been telling the media and the general public that the annual dolphin slaughter is a tradition. They say that eating dolphin meat is their culture. Let's give them the benefit of doubt, and for the sake of argument, lets say for now that they are right. But even if they were right, everything has changed. It is a new day. Today we know that the dolphin meat is POISON. To sell mercury-tainted dolphin meat to the Japanese public is simply untenable and probably illegal.

If the Japanese dolphin hunters continue the annual dolphin slaughter despite the mercury poisoning of the meat, they would be forced are tell the world the truth -- that it is not about culture or tradition. It's about genocide. The fishermen have told us they think the dolphins "eat too much fish." Over-fishing and pollution, of course, is the real problem, but the dolphin hunters are killing the competition while playing the culture and tradition cards. That won't work anymore. The truth is out.

Now, if we could only get the dolphin trainers and dolphin dealers out of Taiji. Leading aquariums and swim-with-dolphin dealers are subsidizing the Japan dolphin slaughter by paying $50,000 or more for a few "show" dolphins from the catch -- the rest of the pod is slaughtered for dolphin meat on the Japanese market for much less money.

Source: Further information on the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort to end the Japan dolphin slaughter
Author: Richard O'Barry and Helene O'Barry

Date: 2006-12-30