SYDNEY (Kyodo) — Two former Japanese whalers allege that both crewmembers and the semiofficial Institute of Cetacean Research are involved in large-scale whale meat embezzlement, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday.
The two whistleblowers spoke to the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program about hundreds of kilograms of whale meat being stolen for either personal consumption or to sell to restaurants.
One man, known as "Mr. Whale," worked previously on the Nisshin Maru whaling ship and claims some crewmembers have made a lot of money reselling the meat.
"First, when the ship returns to Japan and arrives in the port, a transport truck is waiting," he said.
"The crewmen will then pack the whale meat they stole into a cardboard box. One person carried off 500 to 600 kilograms," Mr. Whale told the ABC.
He also said whistleblowers could be killed by crewmates for speaking out about the theft.
Another man, called "T-san" supported the claims, adding he had also seen a staff member from the ICR, which is responsible for the research whaling program, steal whale meat.
"It happened on the container on the bridge," T-san said. "I had to check the temperature every day and when I went in there, there was a staff member from the Institute of Cetacean Research packing something."
"When I yelled, 'What are you doing?' he then tried to hide the package by spreading his arms out," he said. "It was red meat from the tail. That is the highest quality whale meat."
Two Greenpeace Japan activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, are now on trial in Japan charged with theft and trespassing after they intercepted 23 kilograms of whale meat in April 2008.
The activists, known as the "Tokyo Two," say they were attempting to make public the whale meat embezzlement by crewmembers from the Nisshin Maru.
