Whale Meat Management in Japan

Whale Meat Management in Japan

Illegal trade of whale products?
Highly unlikely!

Recently some newspapers have reported that Japan has engaged in poaching of whales or illegal trading of whale meat in disregard of the IWC's regulations, quoting the results of a DNA analysis of whale meat sold in the Japanese market. However, the conclusion of the paper seems far from the truth. The import control of whale products by the Government of Japan (GOJ) is so strict that very little chance exists for smugglers.

Import control system strictly operated

Taking fully into account of the IWC resolutions on trade in whale products, Japan prohibits import of whale meat originated from non-IWC member natuons or obtained from whales caught in a manner that violates the IWC"s regulatory measures.

Japanese Regulations on Whale Meat Imports under the Decree of Import Trade Control

Source of the products	Rules
Non-IWC member nations	All imports prohibited
IWC member nations	Importation is not allowed unless the GOJ confirmed the authority of the certificate of origin by way of its diplomatic channels or other means

No imports of whale products since 1991 - table of authorized imports

Origin	Species	The last year of imports
Brazil, Korea	Minke Whale	1986
Peru	Bryde's Whale	1986
Spain	Fin Whale	1986
Norway, U.S.S.R.	Minke Whale	1989
Iceland	Sei Whale	1990
Iceland	Fin Whale	1991

(* Although original of this table in the brochure is a bar graph, I reconstructed it into the table since what I have is B/W copy)

Enforcement

The management authorities (MITI, Fisheries Agency), Customs Offices, Marine Safety Bureaus, regional police headquarters, and municipal fishery administrative authorities throughout Japan prevent smuggling.

Their recent works

Many attempts of illegal imports of whale meat have been blocked. Confiscated products were destroyed by incineration or burial.

227 tons Whale Meat Confiscated in Miyagi. June. 1987, From Taiwan.
108 tons Bryde's Whale Confiscated at Marugame, Jan. 1988, From Taiwan.
135 tons Whale Meat Confiscated in Kagosima. Dec. 1988, From Taiwan.
28 tons of Bryde's Whale Confiscated in the sea. Apr. 1989, from Taiwan.
7 tons Bryde's Whale Confiscated at Okinawa Port. Nov. 1992, From Taiwan.
220 tons Sei Whale Import application rejected. Feb. 1993, From Russia.
200 kilograms Bryde's Whale Confiscated at Narita air port. Feb. 1993.
11 tons Whale Meat Confiscated at Nagasaki Port. May. 1994, From Korea.

Punishment
Poaching : a prison sentence up to 3 years, a fine up to 2 million yen.
Smuggling : a prison sentence up to 3 years, a fine up to 300,000 yen.

Origins of whale products in Japan

Large Cetaceans
Meat of whales from Japanese operation before the enforcement of the commercial whaling moratorium in 1988 and imported products from IWC member states in the past are kept in cold storage and are used even at present. These species are minke, sei, fin, Bryde's, and sperm whales.

Some of minke whale meat are originated from byproducts of Japanese scientific research pursuant to article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. The article VIII requires that the whales sampled for research be utilized as fully as possible. Consequently the byproduct is distributed throughout normal distribution channels in Japan under the regulation of the Government. Japan reports the results of the research to the IWC annually for scientific appraisal.

Small amount of minke whale meat originated from accidental entanglement of minke whales in coastal fisheries also exists. There is a number of cases of whale entanglements in the coastal set net fisheries.

The GOJ instructs coastal fishermen to free the entangled whale when it is alive. If whales are found to be dead, fisherman may bury it underground or may consume meat from the viewpoint of wise use of natural resources.

Small Cetaceans
Meat of small cetaceans caught by small type coastal whaling, hand harpoon, and driving fishery are traditionally used for human consumption. These species include Short Finned Pilot whale, Baird's beaked whale, Dall's porpoise, and Striped dolphin. Catches of these species, which are outside of the IWC's jurisdiction, are controlled by the government of Japan by setting quotas based on its systematic surveys.

Summary
Legal species in Japanese retail market includes:

Minke whale
Sei whale
Fin whale
Bryde's whale
Sperm whale

Short finned pilot whale
Baird's beaked whale
Dall's porpoise
Striped dolphin
Other dolphins

Which DNAs are analyzed?

"Which whales are hunted? A molecular genetic approach to monitoring whaling" (Science 265: 1538-39) written by Dr. C.S. Baker (University of Auckland) and Dr. Palumbi (University of Hawaii) claimed that the authors found seven cetacean species in the Japanese retail market using DNA analysis.

Experimental Contamination
Samples were purchased from the retail market and prepared for the experiment by some non biologists. DNA was isolated from the samples under the non ideal conditions of a hotel room in Tokyo. Theoretically, rigorous steps should be routinely taken to prevent contamination throughout the DNA experiments. Although there was no direct evidence that the contamination occured, the possibility cannot be excluded.

Inadequate Databese
The reliability of conclusions of the DNA analysis is limited by the quality of the databese of known sequences with which the unknown sequences are compared. In this experiment, the database is inadequate. 24 sequences, representing 16 species are not sufficiently representative of the variation within the 16 tested species.

Limited Applicability
DNA was isolated from samples of widely varying quality. Data are presented only for 16 samples out of at least 41 samples taken. DNA of high quality was not able to be extracted from more than 25 samples. This may reflect difficulty in obtaining DNA of sufficient quality for subsequent amplification from highly processed samples. This would limit the applicability of their approach.