On July 8, 2019 local time, a local supermarket in Osaka, Japan sold small baleen whale meat. Video screenshot
After Japan restarted commercial whaling on July 1 this year, the first batch of whale meat began to go on sale recently.
According to nikkei.com reported on the 5th, after Japan restarted commercial whaling, the small baleen whale meat unloaded at Kushiro port in Eastern Hokkaido was listed in the fish market in Kushiro city on July 4, which is also the first batch after the resumption of commercial whaling. According to the report, from the trading price of the day, the 'red meat' of ordinary parts is about 2500 yen (about 160 yuan) per kilogram.
The report also said that on the 4th, whale meat auctions were also held in the markets of Aomori county and Miyagi County, and whale parts with a price of 15000 yen (about 955 yuan) per kilogram appeared in the central wholesale market of Sendai City.
According to Kyodo news agency of Japan on the 8th, the Meitian head office of Japan's Sakai department store in the North District of Osaka sold whale meat purchased for the first time after Japan's resumption of commercial whaling at the fresh fish store on the 8th, and also held a limited number of tasting activities.
Kyodo News Agency reported that the person in charge said: "I hope to deliver its delicious food to young people who are not familiar with whales."
The store purchased about 30kg minke whale lean meat unloaded on the 4th at Kushiro Road, Hokkaido. It is reported that the price of whale meat sashimi per 100 grams in the store is 599 yen (about 38 yuan). Some lean meat is processed in stores and sold in fried pieces.
According to Kyodo news agency, the store previously sold 'whale meat produced as a by-product of research in scientific whaling'.
On June 30 this year, Japan officially withdrew from the International Whaling Commission and restarted commercial whaling from July 1.
According to Xinhua news agency, the International Whaling Commission decided to suspend commercial whaling in 1982, and Japan has since called for the resumption of commercial whaling, but failed. Japan joined this international organization in 1951 and was forced to end commercial whaling in 1988. Instead, it engaged in so-called "investigative whaling" in the Northwest Pacific and waters near Antarctica in the name of "scientific research". Anti whaling activists identified Japan as commercial whaling under the guise of "scientific research".
According to an earlier report by surging news, in 2018, Japan persuaded the International Whaling Commission to establish a reasonable whaling volume for the last time, but it ended in failure and finally announced its withdrawal from the Commission in December last year. This is the first time that Japan withdrew from an important international organization after World War II.
The Japanese Fisheries Department began issuing licenses on July 1, and whaling "will be carried out in Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone".
At present, Japan allows hunting of three kinds of whales, namely minke whale, Brinell whale and plug whale. According to the World Conservation Union's red list of endangered species, minke whales and Brinell whales are not endangered. Although cypress whales are listed as endangered, their number is increasing, the BBC reported.
However, Japan's resumption of commercial whaling has still attracted a lot of criticism from the international community.
Xinhua News Agency reported that Japan has a long history of whaling, and whale meat has helped the Japanese survive the era of food shortage. However, by 2016, whale meat accounted for only about 0.1% of the national meat consumption. Many people questioned the necessity of restarting commercial whaling in Japan.