In the spring of 2015, a sushi chef who worked at a now closed restaurant in Santa Monica called Hump was sentenced to two years’ probation, fined $5,000 and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service for his role in a scheme to import and sell whale meat at his California restaurant. Whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act therefore, their meat is not allowed to be sold at restaurants in the United States. The chefs of the restaurant admitted in 2007 that they got approval from the restaurant’s owner and manager to order and sell several pounds of whale meat from Ohira, Japan. The chefs then served the meat on at least two different occasions. The meat was never on the menu but special friends of the restaurant were told about it and given the chance to order it. This case was shocking to most people in the United States but this is an unfortunate reality many “protected” as well as non- protected animals face.
Eating whale is an example of “bush meat.” I will be discussing the term bush meat more in an upcoming post but I think it is important to acknowledge that marine mammals face similar issues as land mammals. This case was particularly shocking to people because in the United States do not eat much meat outside of farm-raised meat such as chicken, cow, and pig. This horrible case happened in one of the most visited parts of California and showed that the selling of these types of meat products could be happening more than the general public would know.
The unfortunate reality is that despite government protections such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, people still find ways to obtain illegal animal meat. This shows that in order for there to be actual change that keeps these animals safe, there needs to be a culture shift. It should not be socially acceptable in any culture for illegal animal meat to be sold. By spreading awareness of these types of situations, hopefully these animals will not be illegally killed and sold.
I tend to blame the consumer in cases like this. If no one wants wheel meat then there wouldn’t be people willing to sell it. I’m not sure what properties make whale meat so attractive to people, but I can imagine its similar to the appeal of eating other exotic animals. In China, shark fin soup is a delicacy and rhino horns are believed to have magical healing powers. It’s not my place to judge the delicacies of a culture, but the ways in which they harvest the shark fins and rhino horns are pretty horrific. These atrocities would stop if there were no more people willing to fund them via the purchase of their goods.
I knew about some other animal-rights related concerns in the restaurant industry (foie gras is probably one of the more well-known), but I had not heard of this incident of whale meat sale and consumption. It is interesting that you point to a culture shift rather than further legal protections or stricter legal enforcement. Do you think that our culture around marine mammals, specifically, needs to change, or our culture around animals in general, their value, and wellness, needs to change as well?
Poaching is a huge problem and I've always found it interesting how far people will go in order to use a specific type of meat in food, despite the laws against it. There is a good reason why animals such as whales are protected in the wild, not only to prevent their own endangerment but also the overall ocean ecosystem, but there is an unkempt selfishness about chefs and consumers that still request these foods.
I remember hearing about this when it happened and was utterly shocked because how could this restaurant and chef do such a thing! The fact that some customers even knew about it is absurd to me considering there are strict laws against this in the United States. I appreciate you making this post because I did not know the specific details of the whole situation plus the information that you discussed such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It's truly sad to hear that people still find ways to engage with selling and obtaining illegal meat.
Wow, I can't believe this happened. This was a very interesting post. I had no idea the selling of whale meat at restaurants wasn't legal to be honest. However, i've never heard of it being sold. Although you said you will explain "bush meat" further in another blog post, I think it would have been helpful to give a short explanation of it to help the reader gain more context and a better understanding of the issue.