By It will be interesting to see where this sei whale meat came from:
Federal authorities have charged a trendy Santa Monica sushi restaurant with serving whale meat — an investigation that was spurred by the team behind the Oscar-winning documentary, “The Cove.”
Prosecutors charged Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of The Hump, and one of its chefs — Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45 — with the illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.
While it is considered a delicacy in Japan and some other countries, meat from whale — an endangered species — is illegal to consume in the United States.
The misdemeanor charge carries a federal prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to $200,000 for the company, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Lawyers for Typhoon could not be reached for comment. But the restaurant told the Los Angeles Times it accepts responsibility and will pay a fine. [CNN]
You can read the rest at the link, but I would not be surprised if the whale meat came from the Japanese whalers because they have an IWC permit to hunt 100 sei whales. However, the sei whale meat should not be exported to the US in violation of the law and I’m sure this restaurant will be punished. What I will be most interested to see is if the Japanese government prosecutes who ever smuggled this meat into the US if in fact a Japanese company did this.
4:03 am on March 11th, 2010 1
I'm just glad it was the one sushi restaurant in L.A. County not run by Koreans.
This inspired me to write a post, that includes that includes my own thoughts on whale meat (which tie in to thoughts on dog meat).
4:24 am on March 11th, 2010 2
Emphasis mine. And here I thought horses just went to dog food and glue factories….
4:26 am on March 11th, 2010 3
The French like horse meat.
Apparently this restaurant specializes in the delicacies of countries that couldn't win World War II. Why would anyone want to eat there?
4:27 am on March 11th, 2010 4
Hot waitresses.
4:29 am on March 11th, 2010 5
Blech. I'd hate to see what happens to a hot waitress when she's considered no longer hot enough to work there.
4:49 am on March 11th, 2010 6
They end up with the likes of Nick Cage.
5:02 am on March 11th, 2010 7
Ew… that's worse than the cannibalistic image I'd conjured up.
(Actually, though, Mrs Cage is still pretty hot, last time I checked)
10:24 pm on March 11th, 2010 8
I can't wait for the loons to come out and say "it's not wrong to sell and eat whale meat". These are the same loons who lament against groups like Sea Shepherd. They say things like "I like to eat scrambled Bald Eagle eggs with a side of Orangutan brains". If you haven't seen it, watch "The Cove" and see if you can identify the message the director is conveying. Where is the line? For those who see nothing wrong with eating whale meat, I am curious to know what they think is "forbiden" or against their morals to eat?
9:12 pm on March 12th, 2010 9
"I am curious to know what they think is “forbiden” or against their morals to eat?" I eat forbidden food every day. I have been compared to Adolf Hitler and have been acused of genocide for my eating habits so I guess I am one of your loons Lemy. You see first of all I eat meat.
The eco loons don't and they want to ensure everyone who does either dies a violent death or at least feels really really bad.
Within the meat catagory I eat both cow and pig which angers many Muslims to neck chopping levels and many Hindus to shaking angry fist levels. I also eat chickens, duck, lamb, turkey, deer, goat, fish of all types except octopus.
I don't eat dog or cat but understand they have been food sources for 1000s of years for many people and do not begrudge them their tradition. I also don't eat whale or dolphin, but I do occasionaly tell an eco loon that I wnat to try it some day just to tighten their panties in a wad.
So what was your point Lemmy, most people eat meat. You think the eskimos are bad because they found the greatest source of energy around and ate it? Most people just don't like being lectured and shouted down. They want a little freedom from people who know what's best for us be it energy or food.
You can take my steak when you pry it cold off my plate, just pop it back into the oven for 15 and get me a beer while you are up your mini-me dictator. If I want whale it's whats for dinner.
9:19 pm on March 12th, 2010 10
Pray we never crash together in the Andes.
Fellow passengers with culturally-biased ideas of what type of meat is acceptable to eat: It's what's for dinner.
2:38 am on March 14th, 2010 11
3:16 am on March 20th, 2010 12
An update: the restaurant has closed, the owner has apologized and seems to have found religion on the subject (see here).
9:37 am on April 12th, 2010 13
11:19 am on April 12th, 2010 14
Sure could use a juicy whale burger right about now.
11:57 am on April 12th, 2010 15
A whale booger? That might be illegal, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris
6:02 pm on April 12th, 2010 16
Hey Leon, you should eat a big bowl of Ambergris yum yum. Thanks Chickenhead for the posting.
2:03 pm on April 15th, 2010 17
[...] naturally means they need an outside market. Apparently the market is in the United States (as blogged by Rok Drop – notice the name of the restaraunt? Apparently it shut itself down as a “self-imposed punishment”) and, not surprisingly, [...]
9:13 pm on May 13th, 2010 18
Testing showed the fin whale meat likely came from the same whale offered for sale at a Japanese market in 2007, which the scientists also tested.
Ewww! Icky!!
I wonder if Koreans would be outraged to learn that the Japanese were selling them stale, two year old whale meat.
If the Japanese are only supposed to be capturing whales for research anyway, I think it is reasonable to ask them to maintain a DNA registry for the whales they have captured.
9:55 pm on May 15th, 2010 19
apparently there's a lot of by products coming from whales they use in Japan
http://www.japansugoi.com/wordpress/whale-by-prod…