whale-for-sale

WHALE FOR SALE THE GLOBAL TRADE IN DEAD WHALESHowever in January 2013, over 1,000 dolphins were killed, allegedly by a group of villagersfrom Fanalei who broke away from the consensus developed within these villages to endthe hunts. 2Live captures: In recent years also, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins have been captured to sell tointernational traders supplying captive display facilities across the world. Since 2003, the SolomonIslands have controversially exported these dolphins to Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, China, thePhilippines and Malaysia. 3South KoreaThe port of Ulsan, in the south-east, has a whale-eating tradition dating back thousands of years.South Korea was one of the first countries to conduct ‘scientific’ whaling after the moratorium, butthe programme was abandoned after a single season due to diplomatic and activist pressure. Whilstcommercial and subsistence whaling remain illegal, a legal loophole, exploited by South Korea aswell as by Japan, means that domestic sales of meat and blubber from minke whales killed due to‘incidental bycatch’ (accidental death due to becoming entangled in fishing nets) is permitted. 1Since 1986 then, minke whales from the protected ‘J’ stock caught in fishing nets have provided asteady supply of whale meat which is widely available in local shops and restaurants. A 2011 reportclaimed that a whale meat dish can cost up to $100, with Ulsan accounting for 80% of all whale meatconsumption in South Korea 2 . There are concerns that high prices for whale meat based on strongdemand from consumers, plus the existence of the bycatch loophole, has encouraged so-called‘deliberate bycatch’, whereby whales are intentionally targeted by fishing nets or left to drown byfishermen when they became entangled in their nets. 2011 research 1 also points to a fall in the priceof whale meat between 2006-2010 -whilst consumer demand and bycatch rates remained steady - asevidence that illegal hunting by criminal gangs, using specially adapted fishing boats, was boostingthe supply of whale meat.DNA analysis of whale meat purchased in Japanese restaurants in Seoul in 2009 revealed samplesfrom three species of whale – fin, sei and Antarctic minke - killed under Japan’s ‘scientific’ whalingprogramme. Genetic identification of a sample purchased in Seoul matched fin whale meat purchasedin Japan in 2007, indicating illegal trade between these two countries. 3In 2012, Korean representatives at the IWC appeared to indicate that they would resume ‘scientificwhaling’ from 2013, but backtracked following a global outcry. WDC suggested at the time thatKorean fisheries officials had only been willing to make such a proposal because they could notcontrol illegal whaling and scientific whaling quotas could conveniently be used to ‘legitimise’ theexisting illegal hunt. 5In November 2013, investigators in Yeongcheon city, South Korea, discovered around2,500 kg of whale meat stashed in a walk-in freezer. The meat came from illegally-killedminke whales and had an estimated black market value of around KRW100 million (around£58,000). Police believed the whales had been killed by hand harpooners, almost certainlyinvolving unimaginable suffering for the whales. Investigators believe that the scale ofillegal whaling is greater than previously thought and could involve around 15 vessels. 4{ 35 }