No-one seems to know the exact size of Japan's national stockpile of unwanted whale meat.
Current estimates put the figure at around 5,000-6,000 tons of unsold whale meat sitting in the ICR's freezers. And more is on the way, with imports of endangered fin meat from Iceland...
Roughly 75% of Japan's own 2012-2013 catch (er..."research by-product") went unsold, and the ICR (Institute of Cetacean Research) is struggling with significant financial losses.
Though the public desire to eat toxic-laden whale meat is in steady decline, Japan refuses to abandon its annual hunts, spending millions of public dollars on equipment, fuel and repairs. So the ICR is desperately trying to pull out of it's nosedive, by advertising whale meat as 'a nutritious food that enhances physical strength and reduces fatigue.'
While whale meat used to be a staple of Japanese school lunches post-WWII, today's younger generations rarely consider eating it. The ICR is now aiming to promote the meat as a large source of
balenine, a substance believed to enhance energy and physical health. Balenine (or ophidine) is found in the muscles of several species of mammal (including man), and chicken...but it's nothing new. It's been touted as a performance enhancer for athletes for quite some time. But is the health gain also worth the risk of imbibing toxic pollutants?
The campaign's trying to sell whale meat to Japan's Self-Defence Forces too, as a way of improving servicemen's health and strength. The ICR will also distribute 7,000 brochures, meant to make the food more appealing by including recipes for dishes like whale meat sashimi and whale cooked with Chinese chives. Yum
yum...yeah, right.
Still, no-one can say the Japanese aren't very clever! This latest ploy sees the govt literally selling the whale meat back to itself! Tax money from the fisheries budget's spent on whaling...then tax money from the tsunami reconstruction budget's spent on whaling...and when the govt can't manage to get the whale meat auctioned off, tax money from the education budget's spent to buy whale meat...and now tax money from the defence budget's also spent to buy more whale meat...all to justify more whaling.
It's a self-sustaining loop spreading the 'whale debt' across four separate ministries of government!
Current estimates put the figure at around 5,000-6,000 tons of unsold whale meat sitting in the ICR's freezers. And more is on the way, with imports of endangered fin meat from Iceland...
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| Japanese health food shop? |
Though the public desire to eat toxic-laden whale meat is in steady decline, Japan refuses to abandon its annual hunts, spending millions of public dollars on equipment, fuel and repairs. So the ICR is desperately trying to pull out of it's nosedive, by advertising whale meat as 'a nutritious food that enhances physical strength and reduces fatigue.'
While whale meat used to be a staple of Japanese school lunches post-WWII, today's younger generations rarely consider eating it. The ICR is now aiming to promote the meat as a large source of
balenine, a substance believed to enhance energy and physical health. Balenine (or ophidine) is found in the muscles of several species of mammal (including man), and chicken...but it's nothing new. It's been touted as a performance enhancer for athletes for quite some time. But is the health gain also worth the risk of imbibing toxic pollutants?
The campaign's trying to sell whale meat to Japan's Self-Defence Forces too, as a way of improving servicemen's health and strength. The ICR will also distribute 7,000 brochures, meant to make the food more appealing by including recipes for dishes like whale meat sashimi and whale cooked with Chinese chives. Yum
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| Toxins for dinner, anyone? |
Still, no-one can say the Japanese aren't very clever! This latest ploy sees the govt literally selling the whale meat back to itself! Tax money from the fisheries budget's spent on whaling...then tax money from the tsunami reconstruction budget's spent on whaling...and when the govt can't manage to get the whale meat auctioned off, tax money from the education budget's spent to buy whale meat...and now tax money from the defence budget's also spent to buy more whale meat...all to justify more whaling.
It's a self-sustaining loop spreading the 'whale debt' across four separate ministries of government!
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