JAPAN鈥橲 appetite for whale meat is on the wane. The economic recession and
shifting cultural attitudes are making it harder to sell the controversial
food.
Fish markets failed to shift around 220 tonnes of the 750 tonnes of whale
meat on sale between July and August 2000, according to a new report by the
Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo.
Last year, Japan killed 400 minke whales鈥攖hat鈥檚 1800 tonnes of meat for
the dinner table. Sales were better, but Japan鈥檚 whalers are still finding it
difficult to unload the expensive delicacy.
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鈥淒emand is down for all types of seafood in Japan because of the economic
slump,鈥� says the institute鈥檚 general affairs manager Takumi Ikushima. And the
whalemeat market is particularly affected. Because of its rarity and high
distribution costs, the meat is still being sold at a high price鈥攁round
3000 yen (拢16) a kilo.
In 1986, Japan abandoned commercial whaling in compliance with an
international moratorium. The whales are now caught for 鈥渞esearch鈥� purposes
under rules laid down by the International Whaling Commission. Quotas remain
roughly the same each year and the Japanese government, which subsidises the
whaling industry, insists that the whale meat is sold as food. IWC rules
stipulate that the by-products of any whale research are processed, the
government says.
A change in eating habits is also affecting sales. Young people are
more likely to question whale-eating than older folks are, reckons Ikushima.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 still very popular with the older generation. We have to encourage
young people to eat, which is why we have a special quota set aside for
蝉肠丑辞辞濒蝉.鈥�
A new compassion for whales also flickered briefly into life in the
town of Oura in Kagoshima last week, when many of its citizens turned out in an
attempt to return 13 beached sperm whales to the sea. Following the failed
rescue, however, many others have been lobbying local authorities, demanding the
right to eat the whales. Some have even turned up on the beach with chainsaws,
say local reports.