On May 15th, Greenpeace campaigners produced as partial evidence
of the corruption, 51.7 pounds of whale meat that had been hidden
in one of four boxes sent by a crew member to his home and
disguised as personal effects. A four-month investigation by
Greenpeace also highlighted claims by informers that
government-appointed officials from the Institute of Cetacean
Research (ICR) and the whaling fleet operators, Kyodo Senpaku, are
aware of the theft. Furthermore, local pubs and meat traders
expected to receive whale meat direct from the factory ship Nisshin
Maru well in advance of the official government release of stocks
at the end of June.
The ongoing Japanese government-backed scientific whaling
program, in the internationally recognized Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary, has been continually mired in controversy, lies and
scandal, bringing Japan into international disrepute. This latest
scandal begs the question of just who profits from a whaling
program, which generates no useful science and is commercially
unsustainable.
“This revelation underscores the sham of Japan’s ‘scientific
whaling.’ In truth, it’s all about making money. Thus we have a
renewed moral obligation to end the brutal practice,” said Phil
Kline, Greenpeace U.S.A. Oceans Campaigner.
“We are delighted that the Public Prosecutor has begun this
investigation and we will cooperate in every way possible to ensure
that it is a full investigation, to the highest levels and not
simply the scapegoating of a few individual crew members,” said
Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Whales Campaign coordinator. “While
the investigation is underway, the government has no option but to
now immediately suspend any whaling permits to the ICR and Kyodo
Senpaku, as well as stop the tax-payers subsidy to the program,”
Sato added.
Kyodo Senpaku officials have claimed that the meat is simply
“souvenirs” given to the crew by the company at the end of the
expedition. However, there is clear evidence-including false
declarations on the whale meat box, where the contents where
labeled as cardboard-that the stolen meat is taken in addition to
the free packages handed out by the company.
Additional allegations from informers that require investigation
include: discarding tons of whale meat daily due to a lack of
processing capacity needed to accommodate increased harvest quotas;
cancerous tumors cut out of whales with the remaining meat
processed for public sale; and targeted hunts to ensure maximum
catch, not random “sampling” as required by the research
permits.
VVPR info: Mike Crocker, Press Officer, Greenpeace U.S.A., Tel: 202-319-2471
Phil Kline, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace, U.S.A., Tel: 202-319-2402
Notes: The “Stolen Japanese Whale Meat Scandal” dossier is available to download in English and Japanese at: http://www.greenpeace.org/whale-meat-scandal
