Greenpeace Reports Theft of Whale Meat by Whaling Crews

Informers told Greenpeace that senior crew and officials from the company operating the fleet, Kyodo Senpaku, are turning a blind eye to the thefts, allowing them to continue for decades.

One informer associated with Kyodo Senpaku told Greenpeace that officials from the Institute of Cetacean Research, ICR, who were on board the Nisshin Maru, knew of the scandal and did nothing. The ICR is a government-authorized nonprofit organization that oversees the Japanese whale hunt, which is conducted under the International Whaling Commission's scientific research whaling provision.

"The information we have gathered indicates that the scale of the scandal is so great, it would be impossible for the ship's operating company, Kyodo Senpaku and the ICR, not to know," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Whales Campaign coordinator.

The Japanese government claims the whaling program, which has been going on for more than 20 years, is a lawful activity, and invests a subsidy of more than 500 million yen (US$5 million) per year from Japanese taxpayers.

Junichi Sato of Greenpeace weighs whale meat from the box intercepted as part of the organization's undercover investigation. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace)

The environmental organization is now asking for a full public inquiry to ascertain the level of corruption within the whaling program.

"They are turning their back on large scale corruption and theft of taxpayers' money. What we need to know now, through a full public enquiry, is who else is profiting from the whaling program? Who else has allowed this fraud to continue?" demanded Sato.

In addition to a public inquiry, Greenpeace is calling for an end to taxpayer subsidies for the whale hunt, and withdrawal of Kyodo Senpaku's license to hunt whales.

The Greenpeace investigation was triggered when the organization was contacted by an informer who used to be involved in the whaling operation and claimed to have information about the Japanese government's "research whaling" program. "The credibility of the witness was verified through secondary interviews supporting his claims and Greenpeace's own investigation," states the Greenpeace report on the undercover investigation, made public Thursday.

Working from information given by former and current Kyodo Senpaku employees, Greenpeace documented the offloading of smuggled whale meat into a special truck, in full view of Kyodo Senpaku officials and crew members when the Nisshin Maru docked on April 15, 2008.

The consignment was documented by Greenpeace activists once it left the ship and tracked to a depot in Tokyo. One of four boxes destined for the same private address was then intercepted in order to verify the contents and establish the fraud.

The consignment notes claimed the box contained "cardboard" but in reality held 23.5 kilograms (51.8 pounds) of salted 'prime' whale meat, worth up to US$3,000. One informer told Greenpeace that dozens of crewmembers take as many as 20 boxes each.

Whale meat package and document intercepted by Greenpeace. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace)

Further Greenpeace investigation established that more than 23 crew members sent at least 93 boxes of "personal baggage" to at least 30 destinations.

"Further inquiries in pubs and restaurants in a number of different locations around Japan confirmed that they were expecting the imminent delivery of whale meat from this year's hunt, despite the fact that the Japanese Fisheries Agency and the Institute of Cetacean Research do not release the whale meat for sale before the end of June 2008," Greenpeace said.

"The whaling program in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is funded by the Japanese taxpayers and they have a right to know who is profiting from their money," said Sato.

When Greenpeacers inquired about the diverted whale meat to the Fisheries Agency of Japan, which has jurisdiction over whale meat distribution, the agency claimed only officially sanctioned whale meat is offloaded from the Nisshin Maru.

"The Japanese whaling program has already been shamed internationally for its lack of scientific credibility, embarrassed by the generation of vast stockpile of whale meat few want to eat and is now embroiled in a scandal at home for being corrupt," Sato said. "It is time for the whaling program to be stopped and public money spent on something more honorable."

Japan has been carrying out research whaling since 1987, the year after the International Whaling Commission declared a moratorium on commercial whaling to allow decimated populations of whales to recover.

Activity during phase one of Japan's Antarctic Research Program, or JARPA, combined a randomized lethal catch of up to 440 Antarctic minke whales each year and ended in March 2005.

Japan's self-assigned quota under the JARPA II program amounts to as many as 935 minke whales plus up to 50 fin whales.

Informers told Greenpeace that tons of whale meat are thrown overboard daily because the factory ship Nishhin Maru lacks the processing capacity for the increased quotas under JARPA II.

Dead minke whale on the deck of the Nisshin Maru (Photo courtesy Institute for Cetacean Research)

Greenpeacers were told of cancerous tumours being found and cut out of whales and the remaining meat processed for public sale.

In order to achieve the increased quota from the JARPA II program, whales were targeted and not hunted randomly as required under the IWC's scientific research regulations, the informers said.

They complained to Greenpeacers that working conditions on board the Nisshin Maru have become very bad because of the JARPA II increased quota and the demand to catch large numbers of whales.

Greenpeace says that the identity of informers and Kyodo Senpaku employees have been removed from the Greenpeace report on this investigation, but employee details will be supplied to the Tokyo district Public Prosecutors Office.

Anti-whaling vessels sent to the Southern Ocean by Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd during this year's hunt, which ended in April, chased the Japanese whalers off the whaling grounds and prevented them from filling Japan's self-assigned quota under the JARPA II program.

The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling stipulates that whale resource management should be based on scientific findings.

It also states that any contracting government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit to kill, take, and treat whales (Article VIII), notwithstanding the moratorium on commercial whaling.

Therefore, claims the Institute for Cetacean Research, Japan's research program is not restricted by any regulations on commercial whaling, such as the moratorium and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.

The "Stolen Japanese Whale Meat Scandal" report in English and Japanese is online here.

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