Conservation groups welcome Tesco PLC's announcement that it has decided to stop selling all cetacean (whale, dolphin and porpoise) products in its Japanese supermarkets. The decision follows a joint campaign by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) and Greenpeace. As part of an ongoing campaign to make leading supermarket multinationals aware of the issues related to the hunting of cetaceans by Japan, the conservation groups met with Tesco representatives on two occasions during May and October 2004. The groups called upon the UK's leading retailer to immediately withdraw all whale meat products that were being sold in at least 45 of their supermarkets stores in the Tokyo area.
Tesco was made aware that the Japanese government sanctions the killing of more than 800 whales in the North Pacific and Antarctic, under the guise of 'scientific research', and in direct contravention of the expressed will of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and its ban on commercial whaling. More than 20,000 small whales, dolphins and porpoises are also killed in Japan's coastal waters. A significant percentage of cetacean products on sale in Japan have been shown to be highly polluted, posing a potential health threat to consumers.
The groups demonstrated that there was an increasing concern amongst Japanese consumers, and that falling prices and growing stockpiles of whale meat indicated a significant decrease in domestic demand for the products. The groups pressed Tesco to consider this wealth of evidence and cease selling whale meat.
Tesco took its decision to stop selling whale products shortly after the second meeting, and indicated that it had immediately stopped purchasing whale meat. According to Tesco they took the decision "due to a lack of customer demand".
Clare Perry, EIA Cetacean Campaigns Manager, said: "We are delighted that Tesco has taken the right decision, to stop selling whale products in their Japanese stores. Any involvement in this destructive trade is a tacit support of the Japanese government's refusal to abide by the moratorium on commercial whaling."
Willie MacKenzie, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, said: "This is an important decision, illustrating clearly that the market for the products of whaling in Japan is dying. This can only have a positive effect on whale conservation. We are certain that the vast majority of Tesco customers will applaud this action."
WDCS Chief Executive, Chris Stroud, said: "Tesco has a responsibility to its customers, in the UK and in Japan. The sale of potentially contaminated whale products is a human health threat, and for this reason alone, Tesco is right to stop selling any such products."
Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling fleet will set sale for the Antarctic in November to hunt protected minke whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. Tesco's decision will help to reduce the market for these protected species within Japan, ultimately building pressure on Japan to abide by the worldwide ban on commercial whaling. The groups believe Tesco's decision is a clear indication that this hunt is unnecessary and that decreasing demand for whale products in the Japanese market makes a mockery of Japan's ongoing commercial whaling.
For more information, please contact:
EIA Press Office, Ashley Misplon Tel: 020 7354 7984 / 07931 500752
Greenpeace UK Press Office Tel: 020 7865 8255
GP Oceans Campaigner, Willie MacKenzie Tel: 020 7865 8253
WDCS UK Press Office, Georgina Davies Tel: 01249 449 509 / 07787 516 635
Video and still images of whale and dolphin hunting and whale meat samples purchased at Tesco-owned stores in Japan are available on request from EIA.
Notes to Editor:
- The Environmental Investigation Agency is an independent, international campaigning organisation committed to protecting endangered species and the natural world.
- Greenpeace is an international organisation that campaigns for the protection of the environment.
- WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, is dedicated to the conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises.
- Tesco acquired C Two-Network, a Japanese supermarket chain, in July 2003. C Two is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco Holdings BC and a Tesco Group member. In August 2004, C Two-Network completed the purchase of Fre'c, adding a further 27 stores to Tesco's Japanese business.
- C Two-Network operates 78 stores based around the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan, trading under the brand names Tsurukame, Tsurukame-Land, Foodlet Tsurukame, and Kamechuru.
- EIA investigations revealed that C Two-Network sold canned cetaceans products in 32 of its 78 stores and fresh cetaceans products in 10 stores. Eleven of the 27 Fre'c stores were selling canned cetacean products and seven were selling fresh cetacean products when an EIA researcher contacted the stores earlier this year.
- The Government of Japan also allows up to 22,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales to be caught each year around the Japanese coast in unregulated and unsustainable hunts.
- Around one-third of the products labelled as 'whale' on sale in Japan are likely to be dolphin, porpoise or small whales hunted in coastal waters.
- More than 1500 people have signed an online petition calling on Tesco to stop the sale of whale, dolphin and porpoise products in its Japanese stores. See www.ethical-business.com
