A Japanese public prosecutor announced on 19 May that it was launching an investigation into allegations that workers on whaling ships are embezzling whale meat and selling it to restaurant owners.
Conservationists are daring to hope that the resulting domestic scandal could herald the end of Japanâs âscientificâ whaling programme.
The formal investigation follows on an undercover investigation which revealed the alleged embezzlement. The investigation was carried out by Greenpeace, who say the activities are a misuse of public funds as the meat is a by-product of publicly funded research.
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Greenpeace was contacted by a former employee of Kyodo Senpaku, a for-profit company that carries out whaling for the Institute of Cetacean Research. Kyodo Senpaku receives government subsidies to kill a certain number of whales each year, so that the ICR can carry out its whale research.
The former employee, who has remained anonymous, told Greenpeace of a tacit agreement on board the Nisshin Maru, a Kyodo Senpaku-owned vessel, that the âproduction workersâ who process the meat take home large amounts of it. The crew allegedly preserve the meat in salt and ship it home.
âSalted stuffâ
To validate the informantâs testimony, Greenpeace followed boxes that were unloaded after the ship arrived at Tokyo harbour. The boxes were labelled âcardboardâ, or in some cases âsalted stuffâ, and were addressed to current and former Nisshin Maru production workers.
Greenpeace intercepted one of the boxes labelled âcardboardâ. Inside, they found clothes and 23.5 kilograms of salted whale meat known as unesu. Unesu is taken from the lower jaw to the belly of the whale and is a high-value cut used to make whale âbaconâ. Greenpeace estimates that the meat was worth between $1100 and $3500.
According to Greenpeaceâs informant, meat is taken by production workers on every cruise and everyone on board is aware of the practice. Interviews with restaurant owners suggested they knew they could purchase the meat from crew members.
Greenpeace alleges that the scale of the operation suggests the ICR is aware of it. The organisation is describing the activities as tantamount to embezzlement of public funds and is calling on the government to suspend the ICRâs whaling permit and subsidies.
âLast pushâ
âNow the issue is a waste of taxpayersâ money, which is being stolen by some of the crew members,â says Junichi Sato, Greenpeaceâs whaling campaign coordinator in Japan.
âIn the past the whaling issue has been seen as a diplomatic problem between Japan and the West,â he says, âbut now the problem is domestic â itâs a case of whether the Japanese people want to support it. That is a big change.â
âThe international pressure is big enough to bring the problem close to its end,â he told 51¶ŻÂț. âI think this domestic situation is the last push.â
Other allegations made by the informant, but which have not been verified by Greenpeace, are that the ships target whales rather than randomly sample populations as dictated by ICR research, and large quantities of whale meat are thrown overboard because the crew do not have the time to process it.
The ICR was not available for comment when contacted by 51¶ŻÂț.
The Fisheries Agency said they would not suspend whaling activities while the investigation is in progress.
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