TOKYO - In an effort to whet an appetite for whale among younger
consumers, a new Japanese company is set to expand sales of the
meat to include school lunches and some family-oriented restaurant
chains.
The move is likely to outrage anti-whaling nations and environmental
groups, who have long charged that Japan's programme of what it
calls research whaling is really commercial whaling in disguise.
Tokyo, which maintains that eating whale is a treasured cultural
tradition, abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 in line with an
international ban. It began research whaling the next year and has
called for a return to limited commercial whaling.
Much of the meat from Japan's whaling ends up on the tables of gourmet
restaurants, but the now-limited supply has made it a pricey delicacy.
Young people especially tend to opt for steak and hamburgers rather
than raw whale meat or boiled blubber.
To broaden sales of whale meat, a new company has been set up following
the return of Japan's whaling fleet last month from a hunt in which
the take of minke whales nearly doubled from the previous year.
"Up to now, the amount of whale meat was limited, so ordinary people
couldn't really get their hands on it," said Noriyoshi Hattori,
director of the Institute of Cetacean Research, which conducts Japan's
whaling programme.
He added that Japan was not trying to promote the eating of whale,
merely to maintain its traditional culture.
"But if pe
ople can eat whale from a young age, they'll become used to it,"
he said. "We just want people to enjoy whale."
A THOUSAND TONS
The new company will start business late next month and hopes to
sell 1,000 tons of whale meat over the next year.
Whale up to now has been allocated to each region of Japan and sold
through limited channels, but the new firm plans to sell directly
to places such as hospitals, companies that provide school lunches,
and restaurant chains catering to families.
It also plans to make sales over the Internet.
Japan blames whales for declining fish catches. It supports protection
of endangered species but argues that others, such as the minke,
are numerous enough to be hunted within limits.
Japan's take of whale on its Antarctic hunt that just ended nearly
doubled to 850 minke whales. Its vessels also brought back, for
the first time, 10 fin whales -- which conservationists say are
endangered.
"Given that our take of whale has doubled this past year, it would
be difficult to sell it through the routes we have used up to now,"
Hattori said, adding that school lunch companies would be charged
lower prices for the meat.
"We have to preserve this sort of traditional food culture among
children."
Greenpeace condemned the new company.
"This isn't just scientific research anymore but clearly suggests
commercial whaling," said Junichi Sato, campaign director at Greenpeace
Japan. "Especially since they took nearly 1,000 whales, including
endangered species."
