Page 320 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

In 2000, the team analyzed 655 4000
Bycatch
samples labeled as whale meat from (whales per year)
Japanese and South Korean markets
and found evidence for 12 species or 3000 Commercial whaling 50
100
subspecies of whales, along with orcas, 150
porpoises, and dolphins—and even
sheep and horses! Seven of the whale Mature female minke whales 2000 Moratorium
species were internationally protected, Bycatch
and together these constituted 10%
of the whale meat for sale in Japanese 1000
markets.
Genetic analyses of minke whale
samples from Japan’s markets also 0
indicated that a large percentage came 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
from animals in the Sea of Japan, Year
where Korea and Japan harvested
them as fishing bycatch. One-third of Figure 3 Minke whales in the Sea of Japan declined sharply until the 1986 moratorium
on their capture. Population models forecast that bycatch of 150, 100, or even 50
the meat on the market was com- minke whales per year would prevent the population’s recovery. Data suggest that actual
ing from the Sea of Japan, mean- bycatch from the Sea of Japan has been close to 150 per year. Adapted from Baker, C.S., et
ing that four times as many whales al., 2000. Predicted decline of protected whales based on molecular genetic monitoring of Japanese and
were being killed there as Japan was Korean markets. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 267: 1191–1199, Fig 3. By permission of The Royal Society and
reporting (Figure 2). The research the author.

Genetic types from
Pacific Ocean team calculated that Japan and Korea
together were taking so many minke
whales from the Sea of Japan that they
would eventually wipe out the popula-
Genetic types from
Sea of Japan tion (Figure 3).
In 2007, Baker led a team that
combined genetic forensics with eco-
Genetic types from logical methods to estimate numbers
markets in Japan of individual whales whose meat was
passing through Korean markets.
SOUTH JAPAN They inferred that meat from 827
KOREA
minke whales had passed through
South Korea’s market in five years.
The nation had reported catching only
458 minke whales as fishing bycatch,
leading the researchers to conclude CHAPTER 11 • Bi odiv ER si T y A nd Cons ER vAT i on Bi ology
that the remainder had been taken
Figure 2 genetic analysis can reveal the origin of animal products. Data on genetic illegally.
types from minke whale meat in Japanese markets (center pie chart) shows evidence The governments of Japan and
of whales from the Sea of Japan (left chart) and of whales from the Pacific Ocean (right South Korea have tried to refute these
chart). Adapted from Lukoschek, V., et al., 2009. High proportion of protected minke whales sold on findings. Yet the technology and
Japanese markets due to illegal, unreported, or unregulated exploitation. Animal Conservation 12: 385–395, approaches that turn scientists into
Fig 2. By permission of John Wiley and Sons. www.interscience.wiley.com. forensic detectives are influencing the
From the data shown, how can we tell that the meat samples from the markets debate and negotiation over whaling
include individuals from both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean? policy at the international level.

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