As many as 150 minke whales are being caught annually in the waters off Japan and South Korea, reportedly as incidental bycatch while fishermen pursue other marine species, according to a new study. The catch of minke whales — sold for as much as $100,000 apiece in South Korean and Japanese markets — equals the approximately 150 minke whales the Japanese now kill annually in the Southern Ocean as part of a controversial hunt for alleged scientific purposes. The study, presented by two
scientists at a recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission, examined the DNA of whale meat sold in Japanese markets and determined that 46 percent of the meat came from coastal species of minkes found off Japan and Korea. It is illegal to kill those species under international treaty. Japan has reported a minke bycatch of as many as 19 whales in some years, but the scientists estimated that, based on the quantity of whale meat sold, the total amount of bycatch off the Japanese and South Korean costs is far higher. Considering the high profits involved in the sale of the minkes, “you have to wonder how many of these whales are, in fact, killed intentionally,” said one of the researchers.
A minke whale