BBC Whale meat 'made into dog food'

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4700418.stm

 

Whale meat 'made into dog food'

Meat from whales caught under Japan's " research "

programme is so abundant that it is being sold as

pet food, according to a UK conservation group.

 

Thousands of tonnes of whale meat has been

stockpiled as more animals are killed each year,

says the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

(WDCS).

 

The Japanese government has attempted to sell

the whale meat to schools but the price has

continued to fall.

 

A company is selling meat on the web as " healthy and safe natural " dog food.

 

" A quiet whale meat boom is starting, " says the website hakudai.com.

 

" The number of pet-owners who care about their

animals' health are growing, recognising the

nutritious value of whale meat, " it adds.

 

" Now the demand and the sales are soaring. "

 

Nutritious and delicious

 

We have heard many arguments from Japan... but

they have never stated that they needed to kill

whales to feed their dogs

Mark Simmonds

The website describes whale meat as " organic "

and fished " freshly out of the water " .

 

Mark Simmonds, director of science at WDCS,

said: " Whaling is a cruel activity and the fact

that Japan is killing these amazing animals to

produce dog food is shocking.

 

" We have heard many arguments from Japan over

the years about why whaling is necessary to them

but they have never stated that they needed to

kill whales to feed their dogs. "

 

A global moratorium on commercial whaling has

been in place since the 1980s, but hunting for

scientific research is permitted under the rules

of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

 

The hunting is condemned by most conservation

groups on the grounds that it is inhumane,

unnecessary and may harm fragile populations.

 

Japan and Iceland run scientific programmes,

while Norway lodged a formal objection to the

moratorium and maintains an openly commercial

operation.

 

A number of indigenous peoples are also allowed

to hunt under tight restrictions.

 

Expanding the kill

 

The sheer volume of Japan's operations makes it

the principal target for the wrath of

conservation groups.

 

 

In the current hunting season, it launched a

programme called JARPA-2 which doubles its annual

minke whale catch from Antarctic waters.

 

JARPA-2 will remove 935 minkes and 10 fin whales

each year; while its other research programme

JARPN takes 100 sei whales, 100 minkes, 50

Bryde's whales and five sperm whales annually

from the north Pacific.

 

The IWC obliges countries practising scientific

whaling to process what they catch, and the meat

from Japan's programmes has always found its way

into restaurants.

 

Last year, it initiated a scheme to distribute

whale meat to schools, and a fast-food chain

began selling whale burgers.

 

But the latest news suggests demand from Japan's

human population is running some way behind the

recently expanded supply.

 

WCDS quotes research showing that the price of

meat from Bryde's whales has halved over the last

five years, with other species falling as well.

 

Protest for survival

 

Most whale species are at risk of extinction,

and last year 63 members of the IWC's Scientific

Committee condemned the JARPA expansion.

 

" With the new proposal, Japan will increase its

annual take... to levels approaching the annual

commercial quotas for Antarctic minke whales that

were in place prior to the moratorium, " they

declared.

 

In January a group of 17 countries, including

the UK, mounted a formal diplomatic protest.

 

" The UK is totally opposed to any activity that

undermines the present moratorium on commercial

whaling, " said Britain's fisheries minister Ben

Bradshaw at the time.

 

" We urge Japan to reconsider its position and

end this unjustified and unnecessary slaughter

which is regarded by many countries and their

public as a means to bypass the IWC moratorium. "

 

Japan maintains that hunting is part of its

cultural heritage, which other nations have no

right to condemn.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4700418.stm

 

Published: 2006/02/10 14:19:44 GMT

 

© BBC MMVI

 

--