| Videos | • Latest |
|
• Feature | • Sports | • Your Videos |
Japan admits whale meat scandal
0 
Japan's Fisheries Agency has admitted its officials accepted gifts of whale meat from the body that runs the country's so-called scientific whaling program. Anti-whaling activists are urging the Japanese government to resume surveillance of the slaughtering of whales.
Japan's Fisheries agency has reprimanded five officials for accepting gifts of whale meat worth up to 3-thousand US dollars. The agency has publicly apologized for the incidents.
The revelation has brought into question the credibility of the Japanese Fisheries Agency, prompting speculation that their whaling program could not be justified on the scientific grounds.
The agency's admission is a massive boost for the two Japanese Greenpeace activists known as "Tokyo Two". The anti-whaling activists were arrested and given suspended jail sentences for taking whale meat to prove their claims of widespread embezzlement in the government-backed whaling industry.
Meanwhile, disputes between the whaling and anti whaling groups have escalated. International communities has long held suspicions on the real purpose of Japan's whaling industry. It's widely suspected that the whale meat ends up in seafood markets and not in research institutions. The US, Australia and New Zealand have strongly reaffirmed their opposition to commercial whaling conducted by the countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland.
Australia has been monitoring Japanese whalers, accusing them of illegal slaughtering. A series of high-seas clashes have also sporadically occurred between Japan whaling fleet and anti-whaling environmentalists.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments