New Scientist claims Japan is driving subgroup of whales to extinction

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 28 JUNE 2000 AT 14:00 ET US

 

Japan Caught Out

Author: Jonathan Knight

New Scientist issue: 1st July 2000

http://www.newscientist.com

 

Where does Japan's whale meat come from? JAPAN'S annual scientific catch of

whales is disguising an undocumented trade in meat from accidentally caught

and possibly poached whales, claim researchers. According to a new analysis

of whale meat in the country, if the trade continues it could drive a

unique subgroup of minke whales in the Sea of Japan to extinction.

 

Sale of whale meat is legal in Japan if it comes from frozen stockpiles,

from the annual catch of around 500 minke whales which the government is

allowed to kill for scientific study, or from " bycatch " -- whales killed

accidentally by fishing gear or ship strikes. Most of the scientific catch

are Antarctic minke whales, but around 100 a year belong to a subgroup of

North Pacific minkes called the O stock. Neither is considered to be

endangered.

 

However, another subgroup of North Pacific minkes that live in the Sea of

Japan, the J stock, number fewer than 2000. Of the 25 whales killed as

bycatch by Japan each year, 15 come from the Sea of Japan. Therefore, no

more than 15 per cent of the North Pacific minke whales on the Japanese

market should be from the J stock.

 

But the new report claims the proportion is double this. From 1993 to 1999,

a team of marine biologists led by Scott Baker of the University of

Auckland and Stephen Palumbi of Harvard University enlisted local

collaborators to buy whale meat in Japanese markets and restaurants. After

analysing the mitochondrial DNA of 574 samples, the researchers conclude

that nearly a third of the North Pacific minke whales on the market came

from the J stock. They estimate that these unreported catches could tip the

balance for the J stock, driving the number of mature females beneath

critical levels in less than a century (see Graph). " The population is in

serious trouble, " Palumbi says.

Japanese and Korean scientists who heard the report at the International

Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee meeting in Adelaide last week

remained unconvinced. Joji Morishita, a Japanese delegate to the IWC, told

New Scientist that similar studies by the Japanese government have failed

to find any unreported catches. " All the so-called suspicious whale meat is

accounted for by stockpiles or bycatch, " he says. " It would be fair to say

that the conclusions (of the new analysis) are not wholeheartedly

accepted, " says IWC secretary Ray Gamble.

 

But Frank Cipriano, one of the report's co-authors who attended the

meeting, points out that the Japanese surveys always send fisheries agents

who are likely to be recognised by sellers and who themselves may be

biased. " It's in their interest to find nothing, " says Cipriano. Morishita

says the Japanese Fisheries Agency is developing a stricter system of

bycatch monitoring that will include DNA testing and should eliminate any

real or perceived reporting problems. Under the new system, sellers of

unregistered meat would be prosecuted.

 

PLEASE MENTION NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE OF THIS STORY AND, IF PUBLISHING

ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO: http://www.newscientist.com

 

UK CONTACT -- Claire Bowles, New Scientist Press Office, London

email: claire.bowles

tel: 44-207-331-2751

US CONTACT -- New Scientist Washington office

email: newscidc

tel: 202-452-1178

 

 

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