The Case Against Captivity | Amusement Parks | Cetacean-Free Facilities | Orca Capture | Achievements

Japanese Grocery Chain Drops Dolphin Meat
Country's largest supermarket corporation says it may be unsafe to eat

Every year from October through March in small towns along the Japanese coast, fishermen perpetrate the largest massacre of marine mammals in the world, killing more than 20,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales in the most brutal way imaginable. They use loud noises to disorient and herd whole pods into shallow bays, then slaughter the helpless cetaceans with sharp spears and hooks. Most of them are butchered for meat that is sold in restaurants and supermarkets in Japan and other Asian countries.

IDA has long been at the forefront of the international effort to end the Japanese drive fishery, teaming up with the Animal Protection Institute, One Voice, Earth Island Institute and the Elsa Nature Conservatory to conduct the Save the Taiji Dolphins campaign. We have some great news to report about the campaign which will be a major blow to the dolphin meat industry.

On November 1st, 2006 the Japan Times ran a front-page story about the dangerous levels of mercury found in the dolphin meat sold in supermarkets. The article cited a three-year study by respected Japanese scientist Dr. Tetsuya Endo which found one sample contaminated with 26 micrograms of methyl mercury—87 times greater than the government's provisional permitted concentration of 0.3 micrograms per gram of flesh. Because overconsumption of methyl mercury is known to cause severe brain damage and birth defects, the researchers therefore concluded that dolphin meat is unsafe for anyone to eat.

Famed dolphin advocates Richard O'Barry and his wife Helene presented these facts recently to representatives of the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, the largest grocery chain in Japan. Last week, Okuwa announced that they would no longer sell dolphin meat in their stores as long as the health risks remain. As the leader in Japan's grocery industry, Okuwa sets the standard for other supermarkets, which will now have a hard time justifying the sale of dolphin meat when their major competitor says it is unsafe to eat.

While other countries may still import tainted dolphin meat, it is likely that the lucrative consumer market for this product in Japan will eventually dissolve if Okuwa's ban holds, delivering a major financial blow to the drive fishery. Just as important, Okuwa's action signals a wider recognition that dolphin meat is poisonous, and continuing to serve it to the Japanese public is unacceptable (and maybe even illegal). If Japanese dolphin hunters continue the slaughter, it will show that profit matters more to them than either people's health or dolphins' lives.

What You Can Do:

Write to the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. to demand a permanent end to the drive fisheries and the preservation of dolphins and whales. Please always be polite and respectful in your correspondence.

Ryozo Kato
Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.
2520 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 238-6700
Fax: (202) 328-2187