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Note on the English Translation: This is the first major story we have seen on this issue in the Japanese media. We are hopeful that other media outlets will pick up the story. Click here to download the story in Japanese (.pdf, ~60k) This paper has a circulation of approximately four million.
October 21, 2005
Aquarium Dolphin Capture Cruel?!
“Roundups cause suffering” says marine mammal expert
Ito Fisheries Cooperative: “Officially sanctioned method; will consider measures”
Aquarium dolphins are a popular attraction for city dwellers wanting to be “healed” from the stresses of urban life. But where do these dolphins come from? Richard O’Barry, 66, a dolphin expert visiting Japan with an animal welfare group, spoke to Tokyo Shimbun on October 20. He said, “Dolphins are being captured in roundups in Wakayama prefecture’s Taiji-cho and Shizuoka prefecture’s Ito City. Japan is the only country where this cruel practice is carried out.”
Dolphin roundups are a traditional hunting method that has been carried out for over four centuries. Fishermen drive pods of dolphins into a shallow cove by banging iron pipes together to create a loud noise under the water, and then capture the dolphins in large nets. Today, this method of hunting remains alive only in Taiji-cho and Ito City.
O’Barry is an American marine mammal specialist. After serving as a dolphin trainer for the hit U.S. television program Flipper in the 1960s, he came to question the capture and use of dolphins following the death[s?] of the dolphin[s?] playing Flipper. Ever since, he has actively promoted dolphin protection worldwide, and currently works for the French animal welfare organization One Voice.
O’Barry learned of the Taiji-cho dolphin hunts on the Internet, and visited Wakayama in January 2004 for an on-site investigation. “It struck me as extremely cruel and tragic,” he says. “Dolphins have a very highly developed sense of self-awareness. A dolphin can look in the mirror and recognize that something is sticking to its body—they are the only animals besides human beings and gorillas that have this ability. In the roundups I saw, they became panicked and thrashed around violently, screaming with agony and injuring each other. This is an immensely cruel method of hunting such sensitive animals.”
Another issue that concerns O’Barry is the fact that, aside from being captured in this way for their meat, the dolphins are being supplied to aquariums.
“As someone who worked in aquariums [an aquarium?], I know that while aquariums sell themselves as educational facilities, in fact they are nothing more than an amusement industry. If you know that these dolphins were captured so inhumanely, you also know that the whole theme of being friends with dolphins is a sham,” he said, and added, “In recent years, we have seen increasing cases of dolphins captured in Japan being exported to China, the Netherlands and other countries, which have brought to light the behind-the-scenes role of brokers.”
Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese animal welfare group based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture, claims that mercury levels found in dolphin meat make it dangerous for human consumption, and is working with O’Barry to have the dolphin hunts banned immediately.
However, the response of domestic fisheries representatives to this is negative.
An official at the Futo branch of the Ito City Fisheries Cooperative implies his pride in the practice of dolphin roundups when he says, “This is an officially sanctioned form of fishing. We are aware of the mercury contamination allegations, but for myself, ‘cutlet’ has been synonymous with ‘dolphin’ since my childhood, and I’m perfectly healthy.”
The Futo branch has official permission to hunt 570 dolphins between September this year and March next year, but has been unable to find any good pods so far and has not carried out any roundups yet this season. Last season 23 dolphins were captured, with some sold to aquariums and the rest consumed locally.
While there are moves aiming to shift from hunting to dolphin watching, the same official said, “The cooperative’s position is to stick to what we’re doing. I don’t deny that roundups have cruel aspects. We intend to keep carrying out the hunts while considering measures to minimize those aspects.”
“’Don’t kill them’ is no grounds for debate”
Hidehiro [?] Kato, a professor of Resource Ecology [?] at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, says that “We can have a discussion from the viewpoint of how marine resources should be scientifically managed and used, but if the premise is simply ‘don’t kill them,’ that is no grounds for debate.”
Kato explains that the number of dolphins in the waters around Japan have been scientifically verified as being stable in recent years, and casts the following doubt on O’Barry’s assertions.
“If keeping dolphins in aquariums is rejected outright, then an avenue for nurturing ordinary people’s interest in the sea, and their desire to protect the environment, will be lost. I don’t think blanket rejection is the answer.”
click here to download the story in Japanese (.pdf, ~60k)