Major Supermarket Chain Permanently Stops Sale Of Dolphin Meatff

On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores.  The ban is now permanent, according to a statement from Okuwa:

“We have decided, as a matter of company policy that we will discontinue permanently the sale of dolphin meat regardless of test results currently being conducted by the company at an independent lab.”  The supermarket adds: “Those test results will be concluded next week, but the results will not be revealed.”

The Save Japan Dolphins coalition (Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Animal Welfare Institute, and In Defense of Animals) applauds this major development in efforts to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter.  Our coalition members formally thank the Okuwa Supermarket chain for their landmark decision to protect the Japanese people from contaminated food products.

During our recent investigations in the Japanese fishing village Taiji, where each year hundreds of dolphins are brutally slaughtered, we visited several nearby supermarkets owned by the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation.  The supermarkets are located in Taiji, Katsuura, and Shingu.  Our team was very visible with our cameras in hand, and we asked whether the supermarkets would sell imported American or Australian beef if you knew mercury levels were the same dangerous levels as dolphin meat caught in Taiji?  We also asked them to conduct independent tests on your products to see if the mercury levels are safe.  We also asked, in light of The Japan Times report (11/01/06) of unsafe mercury levels in dolphin meat, why do you continue to sell the tainted dolphin meat and are you concerned about lawsuits by consumers?

We also informed the supermarkets that Dr. Tetsuya Endo, of the Hokkaido Health Science University, the Dai Ichi Health Science University and New Zealand Health Science University conducted a three-year joint study of mercury levels in dolphin meat from dolphins caught off the coast of Japan -- including Taiji.  They found very high levels of mercury in every sample of dolphin meat that they tested.  Their conclusion: nobody should consume dolphin meat.  Dr. Endo is a highly respected Japanese scientist.  His report on mercury tainted dolphin meat was published in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Minister of Health and Welfare has known about the danger yet has chosen not to warn the public about it.

As the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition reported in their Taiji blog on December 12th they bought a package of striped dolphin meat from the Shingu Okuwa Supermarket and delivered it to The Japan Times in Tokyo to be independently tested.  Here are the results: The second random sample of dolphin meat (iruka niku) sold at the Shingu Central Okuwa Supermarket was tested for total mercury with a readout of 5.40 ppm -- 14 times above the Koseisho's advisory level of 0.4 ppm.  The first sample tested in February was over 4 times the advisory level at 1.77 ppm.

Last December 26, 2006, the Director of Food Products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores.  The ban on dolphin meat is official and permanent.  The supermarket chain and conglomerate is comprised of drug stores, movie theatres, home store centers, sports clubs, hotels and amusement facilities.

Richard O’Barry, on behalf of the coalition called the announcement: “a bold decision that should immediately be followed by other sources of this toxic meat.”  He continued:  “We also salute the only newspaper in Japan reporting this most urgent and controversial issue.  Journalist and photographer Boyd Harnell wrote the story for The Japan Times.”

Approximately 23,000 dolphins, porpoises and other small whales are slaughtered in Japan every year.  David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute’s Int’l Marine Mammal Project stated:  “It is crucial that we track where all this poisoned dolphin meat is going and stop its sale.”  He continued:  “The Japanese public deserve better than to have this toxic product on their store shelves, and the dolphins deserve better than this cruel slaughter.”

O’Barry continued: “We must also get the dolphin trainers and dolphin dealers out of Taiji.  Leading aquariums and swim-with-dolphin dealers are subsidizing the Japan dolphin slaughter by paying $50,000 or more for a few ‘show’ dolphins from the catch -- the rest of the pod is slaughtered for dolphin meat on the Japanese market for much less money.”

Source: Earth Island Institute Press Release