Whale meat admission exposes the farce of Japan's whaling program, say Greens






THE GREENS have slammed Japan's fisheries agency after revelations that officials accepted whale meat from the body that runs its controversial scientific whaling program.

The fisheries agency has reprimanded five officials for accepting gifts of whale meat worth up to $3,000, the ABC has reported, with agency spokesman Toyohiko Ota publicly apologising for the incidents.

“I deeply apologise for this act in which officials took whale meat,” he said.

“It's an act for which we will lose credibility. We will take prevention measures so it will never happen again,” he added.

The Greens have condemned the act, saying it underlines the “farce” that is Japan's whaling program.

“Japan's so-called 'scientific whaling' program never had any credibility and this shows it up yet again,” said Greens senator Rachel Siewert.


She demanded a pardon be granted to the “Tokyo Two” Greenpeace activists Toru Suzuki and Junichi Sato, who were arrested for “stealing” whale meat they believed to have been embezzled.

In September, the two were given suspended jail sentences for taking meat to prove their claims of widespread embezzlement in the government-backed whaling industry.

Senator Siewert said: “Now that Japanese authorities have officially acknowledged that whale meat has been illegally taken and gifted to the very officials who are meant to oversee this program - we should expect to see a pardon granted and formal apology given to the two Greenpeace activists sentenced last year for exposing the embezzlement of whale meat.

“The whole world knows that the so-called `scientific' whaling program is a fraud and the enormous lengths the Japanese government take to cover it up, including the show-trial of the two anti-whaling activists known as the Tokyo Two, are further exposed.”

The Greens senator said the revelations brought into question the credibility of the Japanese Fisheries Agency, and claimed their whaling program could not be justified on scientific grounds.

“It would seem that the significant factor underlying the continuance of this deadly program is kickbacks, not science,” she said.

“I urge the Australian government to raise the case of the Tokyo Two with the Japanese government and to resume surveillance of the whale slaughter in Australia's Antarctic waters.”

I would like to try whale meat. The greens should support this. Eating the meat is the most sustainable option for it. Australian marine biologists have no qualms about eating the fillets off coral trout after counting the parasites in their stomach and no-one claims their work is not research.

Crook, I`m prepared to donate a protest boat for you, if you`ve got the rocks to have a go. 8-)

He'll never do it, Aussie. That would require effort.

But yeah, I really want to try whale meat too. It is supposed to taste a little like steak, which isn't surprising given that whales are mammals. Why do you oppose our right to eat whale meat, Crook? What's the problem?

They're just big ugly aquatic blobs covered in growths. They're not that majestic. As long as they are harvested responsibly and in a sustainable fashion, what is the complaint?