Madplanet

Whale meat: For the table, not the lab

Articles like this one from the Asahi bring into focus the contradictions about Japan’s “scientific” capture of whales. “Whale meat prices up for second straight year; catch falls short of target”, reads the headline. The article begins with an announcement by Japan’s whaling research institute that it is raising the price of whale meat by 6.1% because obstruction by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd meant that the catch only reached 60% of the targeted 551 whales.

Not sounding very scientific thus far?

The article goes on to say that the institute catches whales for research purposes with government permission. It then sells the meat (generating annual revenues of JPY5-7bn) to fund its activities. It’s only raising the price of “red” whale meat 3.5% to avoid the price hikes hurting sales.

However, this won’t be enough to cover either the lower catch or higher fuel prices, and the institute expects Japan’s agriculture ministry to increase the interest-free loans that it makes to the institute.

I am neither particularly pro- or anti-whaling, but if Japan is going to keep on catching whales for food one way or another, why not turn the whole damn affair into a business and quit all the tiptoeing around and euphemisms?