“The hunts in Japan’s coastal waters specifically target nine small cetacean species, eight of them with Government-set catch limits which are clearly unsustainable,” said EIA cetaceans campaigner and report co-author Sarah Baulch.
“For 2013, the catch limits allow the slaughter of 16,655 small cetaceans, but our analysis of available scientific data raises very serious concerns about the sustainability of these hunts.”
Favoured species such as the striped dolphin began to decline drastically due to overexploitation long before catch limits were introduced in 1993. Actual catch numbers have since declined to below these limits for most targeted species; this is due in part to falling consumer demand, but there is significant evidence indicating that a number of exploited populations are too depleted to allow quotas to be filled.
“Despite strong indications of population declines, there appears to be little formal monitoring by the Government of Japan,” added Baulch. “For most hunted species, the majority of population estimates are based on surveys more than 20-years-old.
“In using outdated population information and lacking a scientifically rigorous method for setting catch limits, the Government is displaying a lack of responsibility and is failing to implement its own policies of sustainable utilisation. “
In addition to sustainability concerns, Japanese consumers are left largely ignorant of the high levels of pollutants which typically accumulate in the meat and blubber of these top marine predators; some products can reach 85 times the safe limits for consumption of methyl mercury and 140 times the safe limit for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – particularly shocking in light of the recent signing of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Japan.
Sakae Hemmi, of Japanese NGO Elsa Nature Conservancy, said: “The Government of Japan’s stubborn reluctance to relinquish this archaic industry is not only driving threatened marine species towards extinction, but is endangering the health of its people.”
Interviews are available on request; please contact:
• Sarah Baulch via sarahbaulch@eia-international.org or telephone +81 (0) 909 9627854
• Clare Perry via clareperry@eia-international.org or telephone +34 664 34 8821
EDITORS’ NOTES
1.The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is a UK-based Non Governmental Organisation and charitable trust (registered charity number 1145359) that investigates and campaigns against a wide range of environmental crimes, including illegal wildlife trade, illegal logging, hazardous waste, and trade in climate and ozone-altering chemicals.
2.Elsa Nature Conservancy is a Japanese Non Governmental Organisation established in 1976 with the aim of global nature and environmental protection. Further information can be found at http://en.elsaenc.net/
3.Read and download the report at http://ow.ly/qi3sE
