Whale meat consumption increasing

Chi65 said:

Anyhow, the shippings say nothing about people wanting the meat, it only says, that it has been shipped.

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It's well known that whale meat is on sale in many restaurants and supermarkets around Japan, and it goes without saying that much of this comes from frozen storage.

Also, you fail to say, that while rightly the incoming one is lower than before, the outgoing one also has been lower again after 2006.

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Yes.
As you can also see, the levels of incoming stock decreased in 2007 as compared to 2006, but far more drastically than the decrease in outgoing stock.

The relation to 2002 is completely irrelevant in this.

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Comparisons with 2002 figures were selected because 2002 was 5 years prior to 2007, enabling us to look for a longer term trend than just a single year (which can buck the trend).

now its going down again!

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Indeed volumes went down in 2007 versus 2006, but as I noted above, single years can buck the trend. Despite going down slightly in 2007, volumes were still much higher than years other than 2006. I predict that 2008 will again see outgoing volumes exceed 8,000 tons, with shipments in the second half of 2008 likely to be especially high.

(while the stock piles up)

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Average stockpile levels have increased recently due to extra supply available in the market. Without this extra supply, the increasing rate of outgoing shipments would not have been possible.

(in fact, the whale stockpile at the end of 2007 was the lowest since 2003)

None of the above changes my posted words at all.
You only move around the hot pot, as we say.

Sarapva said:

I don't see how the people arguing this are being wronged

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While whalers in Greenland are permitted to catch whales (and subsequently distribute the products via supermarkets), and whalers in Alaska are permitted to catch whales (and subsequently sell whale craft products at expensive prices in hotel gift shops), whalers in other parts of the world are being denied permission to catch whales on a sustainable basis by the international organization that was established to work to ensure such people could continue to benefit forever.

So I believe that people are being wronged, and that's why I put my hand up and expose this hypocrisy (and is possibly also why the existing international organization may get the sack in the forseeable future)

From the perspective of a whale being harpooned, it must feel that some kind of war is being waged against it.

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A whale being harpooned is the quickest and most efficient method of catching whales that is currently possible.
A war is when a nation or group of people attacks another.

I suggest if people wish to continue a discussion about "who is being wronged" etc, another thread be used. This one is related to the increases in whale consumption within Japan.

We had it all before, and its clear that you don't speak the truth according to thread title now, thus it belongs into this thread.

At the moment it is not increasing at all.

That was the message on Tuesday of Junko Sakuma, a freelance journalist and representative of the Dolphin & Whale Action Network, at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

"The Japanese public does not have a high interest in eating whale meat," she said, citing data to indicate that stockpiles of whale meat in Japan have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years, reaching 5,000 tons in 2005.

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A little different conclusion, yes?

Under the motto of cultural preservation, the Japanese government has continued "scientific whaling" - a controversial program that exploits a snag in the two-decade-old commercial whaling moratorium that allows for whales to be taken for research purposes. Later this week, Japan will seek increased support at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting to lift the ban altogether.

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"With the small percentage of Japanese citizens actively campaigning for whale hunting," she said, "I am almost forced to believe the Japan Fisheries Agency is creating this fictional public opinion to promote the whale hunt."

Annual per capita consumption today amounts to 30 grams or the equivalent of one serving of sashimi. This contrasts sharply with the 2.5 kilograms eaten in the early 1980s.

The current price of red whale meat (which could be sourced from, for example, fin or Sei whales) is approximately 580 yen per 100 grams, with pricier whale bacon fetching 700 yen for a mere 40 grams. In the last 10 years, the wholesale price has been sliced in half to 1,950 yen per kilogram.

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Funny, the price is going down, but David claims consumption is going up?


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,19473162-7583,00.html

Yet traditional whaling seems to reside in that realm of mythical reality that characterises so much of what's called tradition in Japan. After all, whale consumption took off in Japan only after World War II, when US general Douglas MacArthur encouraged whale consumption to supplement Japanese protein intake. By the time of the moratorium in the 1980s, beef and other protein sources were being consumed in the Japanese diet. So when the ban began in 1986, fewer than 1000 jobs were lost in the whaling industry.

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So much for tradition.

Though there are few unbiased polls on Japanese public opinion regarding whale meat, one survey conducted by the national daily newspaper The Asahi Shimbun in 2002 claimed that 4 per cent of respondents sometimes ate whale meat and 9 per cent ate it infrequently. Meanwhile, 86 per cent said they had never eaten whale or had eaten it only as children, in lunches provided by schools. These results reflect those of a similar survey conducted by the newspaper in 1993.

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Popular, oh yeah.

The problem is that although whales are mammals, Japan defines whaling as a fisheries issue. The kanji character for a whale is a combination of two parts, the sign for fish. Nearly all kanji characters for fish names, from snapper to kingfish, are of the same two-part design. So it's no surprise that Japan's diplomatic charge at the IWC is led by the Fisheries Agency, a rather stuffy and conservative government department than the more elitist and outward-looking Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fisheries Agency officials fear that if Japan backs down on whaling, it will also have to back down on other fisheries issues, such as tuna and salmon. That may sound like rampant paranoia, but history tells another story.

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Ah, now we get to the meat (or blubber) of the story.

But to be fair, we add this 2001 quoted link.

This means that the Convention requires the utilization of meat and other by-products of the research. Japan's whale research program in the Antarctic is perfectly legal and fully consistent with these provisions of the ICRW and its rights as a signatory to this Convention.

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Okay.

Scientific research on whales is of vital importance to the IWC since the Convention prescribes that regulations adopted by the Commission shall be based on scientific findings. Japan's research program in the Antarctic, which began with feasibility studies in 1987/88 and 1988/89 in response to claims of the uncertainty of scientific information, has 4 objectives: 1). Estimation of biological parameters to improve the stock management of the Southern Hemisphere minke whale, 2). Elucidation of the role of whales in the Antarctic marine ecosystem, 3). Elucidation of the effect of environmental changes on cetaceans and, 4). Elucidation of the stock structure of the Southern Hemisphere minke whales to improve stock management. Sampling will include the take of up to 440 minke whales from an abundant stock. The small take for research purposes does not pose any risk to minke whales' status. More than 100 data items and samples are taken from each whale, including earplugs for age determination studies, reproductive organs to examine maturation, reproductive cycles and reproductive rates, stomachs for analysis of food consumption and blubber thickness as a measure of condition.

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Japan's research program in the Antarctic has included foreign scientists' participation and has been the subject of an extensive review by the IWC's Scientific Committee. The Scientific Committee has noted that the program has provided considerable data that could be directly relevant for management and that the results of this program can improve the management of minke whales. The Scientific Committee has also noted that non-lethal means to obtain some of this information are unlikely to succeed in the Antarctic. The meaning of this advice is unambiguous. However, it has been misrepresented in many resolutions adopted by the IWC's Plenary sessions. These resolutions, adopted for political reasons and without scientific basis, urge Japan to refrain from issuing special permits for taking whales. The Government of Japan has rejected these resolutions since they are an infringement on its fundamental rights as a signatory government to the 1946 Convention and because they contradict the findings of the IWC Scientific Committee, which has commended both the quality and quantity of the results from this research program. Clearly, if we are to base the management of whale resources on scientific findings, as required by the ICRW, the Scientific Committee's conclusions argue strongly for the continuation of this research program.

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Some disagreement within the IWC.

Much has been learned from Japan's whale research programs, including valuable information related to genetic makeup, reproduction and geographical distribution, and whales' feeding habits. The research has found, for example, that whales are consuming 3 to 5 times the amount of marine living resources as are caught for human consumption. This is an important issue for world food security. Our research has shown that contaminant levels in Antarctic minke whales are deficient .

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Hmm, I wonder how that opinion has changed amid comments on mercury tainted dolphins and whales.

Japanese dietary habits, which have been deeply rooted in history , show that whale meat has been a protein source as an ordinary everyday food. Still, it also has been treated as a special food with regional and social significance. In the areas where whaling has been conducted traditionally, these dietary habits have become an integral part of the community, such that all local ceremonies or festivities include the serving of some whale meat dishes.

In ancient times, the whale to the Japanese was a kind of fish that was thought to be brave and great. Today, along with all other marine resources, whales continue to be viewed as sources of food to be used sustainably. The total protection of all whales irrespective of their stock status as promoted by some members of the IWC and some environmental and animal welfare organizations is contradictory to Japanese cultural values where whale meat is still eaten and where whales are still revered through religious ceremonies and festivals. This is particularly so for those communities where the local peoples' lives have depended on whaling activities.

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But if most people don't want to eat it, why don't the Japanese allow the 'traditional areas' to hunt them?


But then I find out that the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR, 日本鯨類研究所 Nippon Geirui Kenkyūsho) is a Japanese privately owned, non-profit institution. It took over from the Whale Research Institute (founded in 1947), which grew out of the Nakabe Scientific Research Centre (founded in 1941).


Sorry, David, I guess propaganda is just that, propaganda.

@gaijinalways

Prices went down because of increases in the levels of meat being made available. The government sets prices to cover (most of) the forecast costs in the next fiscal year. Costs of research have increased (for example, an additional sightings vessel has been added to the JARPA research fleet to improve abundance estimates' precision. However, costs didn't increase so much as to warrant the government, leaving prices unchanged.

If you consider what the reaction would have been if suddenly the research programmes were running with huge financial gains instead of losses, then it should be fairly obvious why the prices had been reduced (prices actually went up last year, because they realised they had cut them too much).

It's not correct that 2.5 kgs were eaten in the early 1980s. That figure is more like what was being consumed back in the 1960s when consumption peaked. Catch restrictions (required for conservation) had already severely reduced supply by the 1980s, before the moratorium.

Popular, oh yeah.

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When you consider that as of 2002, there was less than 5,000 tons of meat available to be eaten in any given year, it's fairly obvious why only around 10% or so Japanese people could eat it.

Hmm, I wonder how that opinion has changed amid comments on mercury tainted dolphins and whales.

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The statement you make is in response to a comment regarding "Antarctic minke whales", not "mercury tainted dolphins and whales".

But if most people don't want to eat it, why don't the Japanese allow the 'traditional areas' to hunt them?

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Firstly, do not confuse people wanting to eat it with people being able to eat it. See my previous comment about the restricted level of supply. As of January 2008, there was less than 3,000 tons of meat in stock. In 1960, 220,000 tons of meat was consumed that year. It's fairly obvious that supply is very restricted, and this is doubly obvious when you consider a commercial whaling moratorium.

Secondly, the IWC has refused Japan permission to permit coastal whaling for the last 20 years. Rather than quit the organization that is supposed to regulate such activities, Japan has remained within it and continuously tried to encourage it to do what it was set up for.