Fresh fin whale meat auctioned for first time in decades in Japan

fetched up to more than $1,300 per kilogram at auction Thursday

What's that about "dwindling demand" for whale meat? There seems to be plenty - if the latest auction is anything to go by!

Japan's way in facing whale extinction, let auction and make money from those whale while it's not really extinct yet.

https://www.wwf.mg/?199987/Saving-the-whales

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/large-whales-worlds-most-endangered-species-closer-to-extinction-researchers-north-atlantic/

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 more than $1,300 per kilogram at auction Thursday, as officials try to keep the struggling industry alive.

It is struggling industry, so where they got money? Nothing else beside Japanese tax payer money.

https://wwf.panda.org/es/?167621/Norway-Japan-prop-up-whaling-industry-with-taxpayer-money

tastes like garbage but hey, to each his own.

Our taxes are what's keeping the industry going. With few people purchasing whale meat, how did they afford their shiny new boat? Out taxes.

Normally a business that can't make its own profit would fold and go under.

So why does the whaling industry get so much public money?

Lobbying and manipulating the system no doubt.

Hi Fighto

RE:What's that about "dwindling demand" for whale meat? There seems to be plenty - if the latest auction is anything to go by!

There is no mention in this article of how much (whale meat) was on offer at the auction and how much was actually purchased. That information would give us a clear picture of the real demand. I am sure that you are aware that many of these "promotional" auctions are actually PR shams.

This quote,: fetched the day’s highest price at 200,000 yen per kilogram, according to the city’s fishery promotion department." , would indicate that that price paid was a set up ad not an indication of high demand.

gary

If I am not mistaken after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, a fairly large sum of money that was either donated or earmarked for recovery instead went to the whaling industry! As others have said, if the industry can survive on its own fine, but not with tons of subsidies!

The whaling industry employs less than 1,000 workers and receives billions of annual subsidies.

Leave the whales alone, they have a job to do in the ocean. Close down the whaling 1,000 and re-employ them as truck drivers or something else that is truly needed. Whaling is not needed, especially kept afloat by our taxes!

Patricia YarrowToday  08:13 am JST

Leave the whales alone, they have a job to do in the ocean. Close down the whaling 1,000 and re-employ them as truck drivers or something else that is truly needed. Whaling is not needed, especially kept afloat by our taxes!

Well said - and great idea!

The fin whale is a designated endangered species.

""Japan resumed commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission in 2019. The IWC designated the fin whale as a species for protection from overhunting in 1976.""

The next thing you know they will have an army Influencers on TV comedy shows and social media promoting whale meat but will not show the Pain and Agony they put a wheel thru before they KILL IT.

Who is behind this shame, I don't see Japanese flocking to super markets asking when will the latest delivery of fresh whale meat arrives, My Japanese friends will not even eat shark meat so who is pushing this whale meat scam???

The only people eating whale are senior citizen who remember eating it for school lunch in the '50s and "60s, and want a bit of nostalgia occasionally (maybe once a year). They also very occasionally enjoy shocking a fresh-off-the-boat foreigner to a night out on the town replete with sake and a bit of whale bacon. 95% of the population very rarely or never eat whale.

Whale meat is widely found in supermarkets and served in eateries in many parts of Japan. If you think whale consumption is an exception to the rule, you need to get out and see more of Japan.

Japan currently has a surplus of 3700 tons of whale meat that nobody wants. It doesn’t need to prop up an anachronistic industry with taxpayer money to kill endangered mammals.

I tried whale meat 3 to 4 times and had it so many different ways, I try to be open-minded about food, but honestly, not sure what the allure is, it just doesn't taste that great at all. I wouldn't fight people in a line at a supermarket for it. I prefer to eat a nice med-cooked Tomahawk steak.

The government provided ¥5.1 billion in subsidies to the whaling industry in fiscal 2021. The government also provided about US$46 million in subsidies for research to define acceptable whale-hunting quotas.

The whaling industry is dependent on government subsidies to maintain its operations. Without subsidies, the break-even price for 1 kilogram of whale meat is ¥1,200, but the average wholesale price is below that.

The subsidies work out at ¥5 million per whale industry worker.

Fighto!Today 06:51 am JST

fetched up to more than $1,300 per kilogram at auction Thursday

What's that about "dwindling demand" for whale meat? There seems to be plenty - if the latest auction is anything to go by!

I wonder who could have been bidding to get that price as high as $1,300 per kilo, now let me guess.........

Meat from fin whales caught for the first time in nearly 50 years off Japan’s northern coast fetched up to more than $1,300 per kilogram at auction Thursday, as officials try to keep the struggling industry alive.

At those auction prices they will quickly kill off the industry as nobody but the very rich can afford it anyway. Not that there is much demand for it in the first place.

A sad, expensive and unnecessary "industry". Come on Japan, your better than this.

The highest price ever paid for a pair of Yubari melons at auction was ¥5 million in 2019, ¥2.5 million for a single melon!!!!

I'm guessing that is not what they are selling for in market around the country! They do this to make interest in the product and trick consumers into thinking it's a premium product, the same way they artificially jack up the sale of this whale meat at auction.

Whale meat is widely found in supermarkets and served in eateries in many parts of Japan. If you think whale consumption is an exception to the rule, you need to get out and see more of Japan.

@USNinJapan2 My three decades in non-Tokyo metropolitan Japan show otherwise.

Whaling industry is cultural, so even though it's not my cup of tea (I'll stick with salmon & tuna!), let's hope they strike a good balance for society's sake!

garymalmgten - nice post

The_Beagle

If your length of stay in Japan counts for anything (it doesn't), then I have you beat by two decades. Just because you personally haven't encountered it where you happened to have lived doesn't mean it's that way everywhere in the country. Your claim that "95% of the population very rarely or never eat whale" is simply not true. Whale naturally isn't as popular as other seafood, but it's sold as a standard item at local chain supermarkets, is on the standard menu at most sushi restaurants, izakayas, and even of national chain kaitenzushis in areas I've lived in and visited and I assure it's well more than 5% of Japan.

Its delicious! I eat it regularly. Remember, boys and girls, that Japan does not begin and end with the Tokyo metropolitan area. Whale meat is widely available and widely consumed across many parts of the nation.

Long may it continue, because its great!

Whale meat is not sold in our part of Hyogo. Plenty of tasty fresh local fish though.

Whale meat is hardly consumed at all when compared to other available meats.

From Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry's data for 2021.

Beef - 1,200,000 tons consumed

Pork - 2,670,000 tons consumed

Chicken - 2,600,000 tons consumed

Whale - 1,000 tons consumed.

Which comes to other meats being consumed at a rate 6,400 times greater.

If the whale meat being consumed is such an infinitesimally small amount, then why does the industry attract such huge subsidies of govt money to prop it up?

Let the coastal villages that say it's their traditional culture continue to do so, on their own, to meet their own needs.

Don't make the tax-payer a part of a bottomless pit of funding for such.

The next thing you know they will have an army Influencers on TV comedy shows and social media promoting whale meat but will not show the Pain and Agony they put a wheel thru before they KILL IT.

But these same influencers can promote beef, pork and chicken? I have visited a slaughter house and witnessed the pain and agony before the animals die.

I have visited a slaughter house and witnessed the pain and agony before the animals die.

Honest question - I'm not having a crack at you - who visits a slaughterhouse? Do they actually allow visitors in to have a look?

browny1

Don't make the tax-payer a part of a bottomless pit of funding for such.

Why not? When's the last time you heard about any Japanese citizens complaining about their country's tax subsidized whaling industry? Japan subsidizes a great many industries that they deem worthy of supporting and maintaining due to their historical or cultural significance. Why shouldn't whaling be one of them?

USNinjapan - thanks for your reply.

Well I have heard from 2 people - friends - who don't like tax money being used.

And re cultural & historical significance -

Traditional coastal whaling has a long history. It was carried out primarily by small whaling villages. The methods of hunting were hand held spears/harpoons and sometimes netting. The boats were small and powered by rowing. A number of rituals and festivals arose around these practices often involving Shinto customs and even Buddhist prayers. The whale flesh was not the only important aspect of whaling. The oil was valuable as were the bones and skin to make leather. The act of whaling was a community effort and activity.

Fast forward to today's modern factory ship whaling on an industrial scale utilizing a hi-tech craft like the Kangei-Maru and there is little that resembles anything traditional worthy of saving.

Indigenous subsistence whaling still occurs in various places around the world, but the commercial large scale operations in Japan are not to be confused with those. While using some more modern techniques the native hunts are still based on tradition and culture and the whale products are often required for survival in isolated communities.

Imagine if the 1,000s years old whaling traditions of the Inuit, suddenly modernized with factory ships reeling in 100s of whales, then would you still think that activity is a worthy tradition representing the lore and life of centuries ago. Hardly.

So I see no reason why tax payers money is required to bail-out an industry that is not the tradition it once was.

It's that simple.

browny1

None of what you've said matters because it's entirely up to the Japanese people and how they feel about whaling. Until they take issue with their government spending they taxes on sustaining whaling for whatever reason, your and others' condemnation of it is purely academic.

USNinJapan - thanks.

Whoever said it's up to me and not the Japanese people and that I'm condemning them?

I think you misunderstand the role of a discussion forum - to discuss. You know - put forward ideas, opinions, etc.

And my main comments were re you suggesting that whaling (2024) is of cultural and historical significance, so why shouldn't it be subsidized ie protected. I gave a description that modern whaling practices are far from the traditional / historical practices imo, so protection under the "cultural" banner is pretty shaky.

Nothing academic about it at all. Just based on the facts as they currently exist.

And yes - it is for the nation to decide but probably that means a handful of folks with vested interests - politicians, business etc. I don't really care what they do. History will judge their decisions.

Why do you think the Japanese government protects the whaling industry? Is the answer just that they are just continuing to waste Japanese tax money?

What will happen if more whale meat is sold on the market?

Some people say it tastes bad, but I think it's just because their cooking techniques are immature lol

It's dairy countries like Australia and the United States that will be in trouble if beef and pork don't sell. It's only natural that these countries are against whaling, forgetting that they drove whales to the brink of extinction.