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Statement by Several Members of the Taiji City Council
Original document in Japanese can be found at: park.geocities.yahoo.co.jp/gl/mikumanoseikeijuku
Tuesday July 6, 2007
In a town assembly in March 2007, we found that 150kg of meat of {the short-finned pilot} whale, provided by a local Union of the drive fishery for dolphins and whales, was used for school meals in local kindergartens and primary and junior high schools last October. As we have doubts about the safety of eating whale and dolphin meat, we requested, during May and June 2007, an inspection office registered in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan to analyze meat of locally caught {pilot} whales. Based on the results of the inspection, Mr. Junichirou Yamashita brought some questions to the government {of Taiji town} to clarify their way of dealing with the safety of food.
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| Photos of gondou (pilot whale) meat tested,
showing very high mercury contamination. © Junichirou Yamashita |
As a result, we found that the meat contained considerable amounts of mercury (10 to 16 times higher than the maximum advisory level set by the Ministry), as well as methylmercury (10 to 12 times higher than the level {set by the Ministry}). In addition, 0.66ppm of PCB was found in the meat, whereas the maximum advisory level by the Ministry is 0.5ppm. The analyzed meat was sold in a local fishing cooperative store and a chain store of a large supermarket.
{In March when the town assembly was being held}, 46kg of pilot whale meat was left in stock. However, the town {reportedly} used it for school lunches in kindergartens and schools during April and May of 2007. It is true that the town government let children and students eat whale meat without examination of the meat, despite our pointing out {questions} about safety of the meat. The town government recognized that there would be no problem to use meat of Minke whale caught in the Antarctic Ocean, and, in order to make whale meat popular, the town of Taiji provided whale meat to schools all over the country, through the school lunch Association {in Wakayama prefecture}.
By our analysis of {pilot} whale meat from Taiji, however, the fact that the meat contains higher amounts of mercury and methylmercury than the maximum advisory level of the Ministry was successfully proved. So, we think that Taiji town government should conduct a survey about the safety of dolphin meat, which is said to have more of these chemical substances than other whale meat has {e.g. Minke whale meat from the Antarctic}. {We also think that Taiji town} should take actions to prevent the meat, {contaminated above the maximum advisory level}, from going to public markets, {following the advisory notice addressed by the “Koseishou,” former Ministry of Health and Welfare,
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| Photos of gondou (pilot whale) meat tested,
showing very high mercury contamination. © Junichirou Yamashita |
During the inquiry with the local {Taiji town} Council, {many concerned people such as} local fishermen/members of the Union for the drive fishery and managers/persons in charge of the Fishing cooperative supermarket showed up {as observers}. We were able to tell them directly of the outcome of our inspection and the implications {of problems Taiji has with pilot whale meat}.
Authors:
Satoshi Seko, Hisato Ryouno, and Junichirou Yamashita
*EDITORS NOTE: The whale meat is from the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) of the family Delphinidae, a species of dolphin. Throughout this document, "whale" meat is used to refer to the pilot whale meat instead of dolphin meat, unless otherwise stated (e.g. Minke whale meat).