Tesco and Wal-Mart sell whale, dolphin and porpoise meat in their Japanese stores

As part of their bids for world domination, Tesco and Wal-Mart both own chains of stores in Japan. All these chains are currently selling the meat of whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans), although the ways in which they are hunted are unnecessarily cruel and in many cases illegal. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace are currently putting pressure on Tesco, Wal-Mart and the Japanese government to work towards ending these practices.

'Scientific Whaling'?

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986. However, in 1987 Japan started to catch minke whales in the Antarctic using a provision on the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling that allows countries to issue themselves with special permits for catching whales for 'scientific' research. Now around 700 whales are killed each year in the Antarctic and North Pacific in the name of 'scientific research', including minke whales, Bryde's whales, sei whales and sperm whales. All the meat and blubber is then sold commercially within Japan. This policy has been 'strongly and repeatedly' criticised by the international community according to the EIA. According to Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, 'the IWC has asked them [the Japanese government] not to do it. The scientists have repeatedly said they don't need the data. This is simply commercial whaling by another name.'

The ban on large whale hunting was used as an excuse by the Japanese to massively increase the hunt for unprotected whales, dolphin and porpoises (cetaceans) in their coastal waters. In 1988, shortly after the moratorium, the Japanese hand-harpoon catch of Dalls porpoise shot up to over 40,000, wiping out an estimated 67% of the entire Japanese population in just three years. The Japanese Government allows up to 22,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales to be caught each year around the Japanese coast in unregulated and unsustainable hunts. These animals are not protected by the IWC, however their slaughter is unnecessary and inhumane.

In an attempt to overturn IWC rulings that are unfavourable to its whaling intentions, Japan is attempting to buy votes on the IWC. According to Greenpeace, it has been offering developing countries substantial quantities of money in exchange for voting with it on whaling issues. These countries include six in the East Caribbean, Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Panama and Morocco. The policy appears to be working:
'A quick look at the voting record shows that their votes exactly match those of Japan.
'As a result, Japan now commands a blocking minority within the IWC. For any major proposal to be agreed , a 3D4 majority is needed and Japan now commands enough votes to block any further conservation measures from going forward.
'The success of this vote buying strategy was demonstrated by the defeat of the proposal to create both a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary and a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary at last year's meeting.
'Such sanctuaries would represent a massive blow to Japanese whaling interests because it would put two more major areas of the world's oceans permanently off-limits to whaling, ensuring that a large proportion of the whales which feed in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary would be protected throughout their life cycles.'Despite Japan's determination to continue killing cetaceans, the EIA reports that there has been a general decline in demand for whale meat in Japan. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that a lot of the whales that are killed carry high levels of pollutants including methyl mercury and poly chlorinated biphenals (PCBs) - apparently not good things to be ingesting with yer chips.

Enter Wal-Mart and Tesco

In 2002, Wal-Mart purchased a 37% stake in Seiyu, Ltd., one of Japan's leading supermarket chains. Seiyu, Ltd. is a major distributor of whale, dolphin and porpoise products. Wal-Mart and Seiyu are intimately connected through corporate governance. Five of Wal-Marts key executives sit on the Seiyu Board of Directors, including the President and Executive Vice President of Wal-Mart's International Division.

In 2003, Tesco acquired a 94.54% shareholding in the Japanese food retailer C Two-Network, making the company a member of the Tesco group.

Both Seiyu and C Two-Network stores sell canned and fresh cetacean meats. This includes both whale and blubber meat from the 'scientific' research as well as small cetaceans from the coastal hunts. In 2003 the EIA carried out a survey which discovered that all the canned cetacean products were sourced from Japan's two major whaling companies, Nissui and Kyokuyo. These two companies own the majority of shares in Kyodo Senpaku, the company who leases whaling boats to the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research so they can carry out Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling policy.

Clare Perry, EIA Cetacean Campaigns Manager, said: "C Two-Network stores are selling internationally protected species, and as such, are not only sustaining the market for these products in Japan, but are supporting Japan’s refusal to abide by the international ban on commercial whaling. Tesco, by association, could be seen by the public to be condoning these actions."
Greenpeace Ocean Campaigner, Richard Page said: "We are appealing to Tesco to use its ownership of C Two-Network to bring about an end to the sale of cetacean products in C Two-Network stores. Tesco’s UK customers will be appalled to learn that Tesco is so closely linked to the sale of whale meat."

Initially Tesco ignored queries from the EIA, but eventually responded by stating that 'it didn't want to impose Western values on its Japanese stores'. Its response to the Whale and Dolphin Preservation Society in 2003 on the issue of Iceland resuming whaling was somewhat different. 'We do not support the trade in whale products and would not wish to be linked to companies that are involved with this business' (28th August 2003) In April 2004, Tesco alleged that the stores selling the whale meat were subsidiaries of the C-Two Network, and not under their direct control. The EIA dispute this. Japan is considered to be a difficult and important market to get into among transnational grocery chains, and as a relatively recent entrant, Tesco may be wary of treading on anyone's toes.

The EIA had a meeting with Tesco on 13th May 2004 to discuss the situation. According to EIA campaigner Clare Perry there was 'no conclusive outcome' to the meeting. The EIA gave Tesco a lot of information about whaling in Japan and the market for whale meat. It is now up to Tesco is to take this information on board and discuss it with C Two-Network. The EIA is not expecting any rapid progress on this issue, as it has taken five months to even get this preliminary meeting with Tesco. However, as Ms Perry said, 'we have at least started a dialogue, and are making it clear to Tesco that we won't accept anything less than a total cessation of whaling.'

In Autumn 2003 Iceland restarted whaling, also under the banner of 'scientific research' and also passing most of the proceeds of its 'research' on to companies who just happen to give them a lot of money in return and put said whales in cans on supermarket shelves. With Norway also continuing to kill whales in spite of the moratorium, perhaps it's time to get more angry and more active.

For more info check out:
www.eia-international.org
www.greenpeace.org.uk
Both have several pages about whaling and issues around it and some reports and suggestions for campaigns.