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WHALE FOR SALE THE GLOBAL TRADE IN DEAD WHALESa whole<strong>sale</strong>r, confirmed that the meat was indeed dolphin. Undercover filming included commentsfrom a whole<strong>sale</strong>r, who claimed that the meat was also on <strong>sale</strong> in several restaurants in Rome whereit could fetch as much as 900 Euros per kilo. The high prices charged by restaurants <strong>for</strong> this blackmarket product suggest that restaurants were confident that there was significant public demand. 1Dolphins are protected under Italian and EU law, as well as by CITES regulations and there<strong>for</strong>e itis illegal to kill dolphins or to sell their meat or other products. Additionally, ‘black market’ <strong>sale</strong>sof meat, which could be contaminated, puts public health at risk as they bypass food hygieneregulations. 2Local fishermen told the TV team that the meat came from dolphins caught in nets and added thatthose that were still alive when discovered were clubbed to death. They also appeared to suggestthat the nets might be deliberately cast in areas where dolphins had been seen and claimed thatthe dolphins’ heads and fins are routinely discarded to make species identification more difficult.Drift nets were banned in the Mediterranean in 2002, but their use by Italian fishing boats is stillreported. 1In January 2014, a shipment of dolphin meat was seized by Italian authorities at the port ofCivitavecchia. Italy‘s Environment Minister, Andrea Orlando, described this illegal trade as ‘sleazy’ andcalled <strong>for</strong> an immediate investigation to trace the origins of the meat, which included vacuum-packeddried fillets. 3JapanJapan: Great <strong>whale</strong>s killed after the moratorium14001200100080060040020001987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Scientific permitUnder objectionMore than 15,000 <strong>whale</strong>s were killed during this period including Bryde’s, fin, minke, sei and sperm <strong>whale</strong>sEarly whaling: Japan has a limited tradition of small-scale whaling, primarily using hand-heldharpoons, that dates back many centuries. Primary targets were fin, grey, right and humpback <strong>whale</strong>s,with opportunistic hunting of blue, sei and sperm <strong>whale</strong>s. However, whaling on an industrial scaleis a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, developing from the early 20th century with the advent ofsteam ships and explosive harpoons and increasing steadily in scale as the century progressed. Japanextended its whaling into Korean and other waters and, from 1934, began hunting in Antarctica. Whalemeat became an important food source during and after World War II, when animal protein was inshort supply. By the late 1940’s, <strong>whale</strong> meat accounted <strong>for</strong> almost half the meat consumed in Japan. 1{ 21 }

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