THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH
4-5 TOYOMI-CHO, CHUO-KU, TOKYO 104-0055 JAPAN
PHONE: +81-3-3536-6521 FAX: +81-3536-6522

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MEDIA RELEASE
16 February 2006

WHALE MEATThe Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) says a minuscule amount of whale by-productcaught through Japan’s research programs in the Antarctic and western North Pacific or
residuals from non-IWC regulated whaling ends up as pet food.
The Institute today sought to debunk the latest falsehoods and incorrect assumptions
made by anti-whaling lobbyists and members of the media. “The way in which this story
has been spun by anti-whaling lobbyists through naïve journalists who didn’t check theirfacts demonstrates the lack of objectivity that some media have when it comes towhaling,” the ICR’s Director General Dr. Hiroshi Hatanaka said today.
“This is an indictment on western media who do not question the information theyreceive on whaling and instead further reinforce falsehoods and wrong assumptions. It is
the public that loses through receiving false information,” he said.
Pet food
The particular sale of whale meat for pet food referred by the journalists was carried out
by a company near one of the traditional small-type whaling bases on the Boso
Peninsula, south east of Tokyo. This was sold as a jerky-type product and was madefrom less than 100kg of a batch of Baird’s Beaked whale, which the processor received
from a local whaling company.
Baird’s Beaked whale is not one of the species regulated by the International Whaling
Commission and is not included in the ICR’s research programs. The sustainable
management of this particular species of whale is regulated by the Government ofJapan’s Fisheries Agency.
“The whale meat used for the pet food was “hyakuhiro” – the small intestine of the whale
commonly referred to as tripe – and other cheaper cuts that are not utilized for humanconsumption,” Dr. Hatanaka said. Similarly, a small percentage of whale by-products
from the research programs, ie some leavings after processing, that are not utilized forhuman consumption are also processed for the pet food market. This accords with theInternational Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) where it states thatwhales taken under the research provisions “shall so far as practicable be processed”.
“As with other meat industries, such as cattle and sheep slaughtering for instance, notevery part of the whale – intestines, some organs, etc – is appropriate for humanconsumption and these parts are processed for the pet food market.”(more to follow …)

Press Statement, Institute of Cetacean Research – Whale Meat (Page 2 of 2)“To suggest, as these groups have done, that fine cuts of whale meat from Japan’s
research programs is being turned into pet food because Japan has a glut of it is nottrue,” Dr. Hatanaka said.
Stocks of whale meat
The distribution of frozen whale meat from the research programs is highly regulated.
The price range that Japanese consumers are expected to pay is set by theGovernment and the supply to the market is kept under tight control and drip fed toensure that whale meat is available in selected areas throughout the entire year.
“Demand always exceeds supply. At any given time, there will be an amount of whale
meat in storage to ensure supply is always available. Japanese are not losing their taste
for whale, and if left to market forces, the price of whale meat would increase
considerably and reach consumers at unaffordable prices,” Dr. Hatanaka said.
“The fact that the price of whale meat is well regulated by the Government means it isalso affordable for some schools to reintroduce it as a protein-rich lunch option forpupils.”
The wholesale price of minke whale red meat is set at a fixed price of 1950 Yen per
kilogram. The whale meat from the western North Pacific research is available to thepublic from mid-December onwards.
Dr. Hatanaka said anti-whaling lobbyists are told when the catch reaches storage andcoincide their public relations campaign to falsely allege the augmented supplies mean
whale meat is not in demand because there is a large amount of it.
“Obviously our stocks of whale meat increase when we start selling the by-products fromthe North Pacific after Government approval in December and again when selling byproducts from the Antarctic in July. It is at these times that supplies of whale meat are attheir highest,” Dr. Hatanaka said.
NB: Under the rules of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling(ICRW) all whales taken through research programs must be processed to the greatest
extent practicable. Japan processes the whale meat and sells it on the market. The
funding obtained goes towards financing the following year’s research programs.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Mr. Hideki MORONUKI, Far Seas Fisheries Division, Fisheries Agency,
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tel: +81-3-3502-2443
Visit also: www.icrwhale.org
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