English file

Result of Taiji dolphin meat from Taiji 2011

National Institute for Minamata Disease

(Background)

An investigation into the Methyl Mercury concentration levels in hair samples was performed at the request of Taiji-cho, Higashimuro-Gun, Wakayama.

(Subject of Investigation and Method)

1. Inquiry to the consumption of methyl mercury

Of the Taiji residents (population 3,536; 1,600 males, 1926 females, as of July 2009), in the summer study between June=Aug. 2009, 1017 residents, and in the winter study in Feb. 2010, 372 residents had hair samples tested for mercury concentrations. (252 overlapping subjects, for a total of 1137 residents tested) Subjects tested were asked to complete a voluntary survey with respect to the amount of and kinds of fish consumed.

1. Study on the effects on Health

Of the subjects studied in the summer study, 182 who had relatively high mercury concentrations (105 males, 77 females), were administered a standard two-point discrimination test and upper limb functionality exercise tests by neurological specialists between July and November 2009 and in January 2010.

Results

1. Methyl Mercury Concentration Study
2. Summer study results of mercury concentration in hair samples of subjects (from smallest to largest) was on average 11.0ppm for males (0.74ppm~139ppm), and 6.63ppm for females (0.61ppm~79.9ppm), compared to 14 other regions of Japan, the average was (from smallest to largest, 2.47ppm in males (0.10ppm~40.6ppm), and 1.64ppm for women (0.01ppm~25.8ppm).
3. Summer study results showed 3.1%, 32 subjects (26 male, 6 female) whose mercury levels exceeded WHO’s 50ppm lower limit for neurological symptoms.
4. Winter study results of mercury concentration averages showed males at 11.2ppm, females at 6.46ppm, an insignificant difference compared to the summer study. Both the summer and winter studies combined, subjects with over 50ppm equaled 3.8%, for a total of 43 subjects. Some subjects in the winter report overlapped in the summer study and it can be said that there was an increase in the mercury concentrations in the hair samples.
5. There is a correlation between eating some types of whale meat and mercury concentration in hair samples.

2) Study on Health Effects

1) In this study, it could not be proven that there was a case for mercury poisoning.

2) From the analysis of upper limb functional movement, “upper limb involuntary functionality” (tremors) which had been recognized in many Taiji  residents who took the test, has low possibility of being a pathological condition.

3) In neurological testing, a correlation is recognized between the decline or loss of the Achilles tendon reflex and mercury concentrations in hair samples. Compared to the residents from K cho, Ooshima-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture, there was an insignificant possibility of the effects of mercury on the tested Taiji-cho residents as the decline or loss of the Achilles tendon reflex was low .

(Further Investigation)

While the results from this study did not show the health affects of methyl mercury in Taiji residents, because of the extremely high concentrations of mercury in hairs samples, further testing is necessary. From 2010 on, in addition to further mercury concentration hair samples and neurological tests, testing on the effects on children and circulatory systems will be carried out by the National Institute for Minamata Disease. Also, for objective assessment for sensory disorders, the possibility of the use of magnetoencephalo meteres will be recommended. This data was collected for the continuing research for Taiji-cho Residents.

New research that shows mercury levels are higher in some species of tuna could potentially help consumers minimize their consumption of the silvery metal in their sushi, and thus provide a powerful new tool for regulatory organizations. <More>

Movie Screening and Talk Session

This will be a double showing of The Cove and include discussion panels on mercury in seafood and sea life health vs. public health.

March 30th, 2010

7pm-10pm

Admission: Free Please go here for application
Sponsored and supported by Elsa Nature Conservancy, CIRCLET、 DRUMAGIK、PangeaSeed、Choices for Tomorrow (CFT)

Pamphlet explaining fish consumption for pregnant women (Japanese only)

By Youji Tsunabuchi
Shukan Kinyobi
Dec 11, 2009

From October 17-25 at the Tokyo International Film Festival, one documentary seemed to be getting all the public attention. Titled “The Cove”, it was about the dolphin hunting in Taiji-cho, Wakayama. Many people said that it was an “anti-dolphin hunt” movie. But what did the director really want to address through the making of this film? We asked the director himself.

“The Cove”, directed by Louie Psihoyos, is a film about the dolphin hunting in Taiji-cho, Wakayama. The following briefly summarizes the movie theme.

Some mysterious Americans came to Taiji-cho and drove around wearing masks in order to hide their identities. The reason that they were doing this was to document the killings of the dolphins and report back to the world.

The person who played guide for the Americans was Richard O’Barry. O’Barry was the dolphin trainer in “Flipper”, the popular TV show in Japan. There were 5 dolphins that played the character, Flipper, over the duration of the show, and they were separated soon after the show ended. One day in a shallow pool where one of them was caged, one died right before O’Barry’s eyes. It seems that this dolphin had committed suicide because of exhaustion due to the terrible living environment in the pool and simply made a conscious choice to stop breathing.

Since then, O’Barry has dedicated himself to rescuing dolphins. He gave up working as a dolphin trainer, from which he had received a very good salary. He has since been striving to educate people around the world to save dolphins for almost 40 years. He then accepted the main role in this documentary film to tell the world about dolphin hunting in Taiji.

In order to secretly film the dolphin killing in Taiji, O’Barry along with director, Psihoyos, started to put a team together. The bay area surrounding the killing cove outside of Taiji was covered with barbed wire, and entry was prohibited. If anyone did try to enter the area, the local fishermen would practically ‘risk their own lives’ to prevent any trespassing.

The film crew therefore hired free-diving specialists, called upon Hollywood special effects designers to provide undercover recording equipment, and rented a huge cargo container to deliver their equipment to Japan.

They inspected the site, drew up plans and strategies, and finally succeeded in their filming efforts. The documentary uncovered the savage dolphin hunting in Taiji. The small cove became bloodstained, and the fishermen continued using harpoons to stab and beat the dolphins they caught.

“I want to help the fishermen”

The footage was taken over 7 trips to Japan between 2005 and 2007. There were two questions that surfaced with regards to the movie. First, “why shouldn’t dolphin hunting be permitted?” and second, “is it true that dolphin meat contains high concentrations of mercury?” The film content suggested that eating too much dolphin meat could lead to something like Minamata disease due to its high mercury content.

Moreover, the most challenging question to Director Psihoyos was in regard to one of his replies to inquiries about the contents of the film after the screening at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

“If the movie is allowed to show in Japan, I will donate all of the proceeds to OPS (Oceanic Preservation Society) to all the Taiji-cho fishermen. This may be very little in comparison to what they usually make, but I hope to take this opportunity to help them start better jobs.”

This may seem hypocritical, but if he did honestly mean what he said, it could be a great thing. According to Psihoyos, the dolphin drives were actually a metaphor to characterize the larger nature conservation problem, that people have been over-fishing all around the world. And, this metaphor had been fully reflected in one human life by Richard O’Barry.

“Ric (Richard O’Barry) was a dolphin trainer, who achieved fame and wealth or as we call it ‘the American dream.’ But he gave it all up. For about 10 years he had built up his career but spent the last 40 years trying to bring it down. For me, I think this should be the best symbol of our culture. We are damaging the environment by over-exploiting energy resources and living lives of over-consumption. We have to leave that lifestyle behind and make changes, like Ric did.”

Why donate money to the people of Taiji?

“I thought about how to approach people of importance to protect the oceans and the dolphins, which prompted me to decide to make this documentary. At that time, though I understood what Ric had described about the place and his complaint, we decided to visit Taiji-cho ourselves because I wanted to find out the reasons and stories behind why people in Taiji were persisting in these dolphin drives. In the beginning, we planned to have the script present both Ric’s side of the story and the fishermen’s side of the story to compare them. However, the people in Taiji refused to provide us with their half.

“Cinema is a powerful weapon. I simply wanted to start a debate by showing the film and offering close-up coverage of the dolphin hunting problems – such as the fact that dolphin meat is polluted with mercury and unsafe for human consumption.

“On the other hand, I also wanted to help the fishermen in Taiji. My feeling was that the fishermen in fact do not wish to see the dolphins suffering. I have a son who was also a fisherman, but he could not continue fishing any longer. The reason he gave it up was because of concerns that the big fish at the top of the food chain may contain excessive levels of mercury. Like my son, the fishermen in Taiji will have to find other work eventually. That was why I wanted to help them.”

Still, there was one part of this question that remained unanswered. Why would Psihoyos offer help to the people of Taiji, whom he had not yet met and who also rejected his requests. What were the reasons?

“One day, right in front of me, I saw two children who were run over by a truck and killed. I knew they were in danger, but somehow I could not bring myself to warn them in time. I have regretted ever since not being able to yell “Watch out!” Now, through the production of this movie, I wanted to use this chance to raise my voice about mercury pollution. I regard this as necessary for the wellbeing of myself, my son and others.”

This movie is not about stopping traditional whaling. Psihoyos said that the film is about not eating dolphin meat with high levels of mercury. You could also say the same about other kinds of fish at the top of the ocean food chain, such as tuna, marlin, etc. The amount of mercury that large fish carry accumulates after eating others lower in the food chain.

“In the beginning the movie was about animal conservation, but the more we researched, the more we realized what the main issue was. The key problem should be the mercury.”

Mercury pollution continues

According to Sakae Hemmi, Elsa Nature Conservancy, a similar group in Japan, has also been striving to raise the same issue. In February 2004, they purchased some bottle-nose dolphin meat from Futo (Shizuoka Prefecture) and had it examined for mercury pollution at the Hokkaido Medical University. The results showed that the dolphin meat contained 19.2ppm of mercury. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that 0.4ppm should be the safe guideline level, and yet the Futo sample was 48 times higher than the allowed mercury concentration. They also tested many other types of fish meat and all of the results came back above the safety limits.

The Health Ministry had advised especially pregnant women not to consume more than 80 grams of bottle-nose dolphin meat within 2 consecutive months (approximately 10 grams per week). http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/ bukyoku/iyaku/syoku-anzen/suigin/051102-1.html

Although the guidance above was announced in June 2006, Elsa Nature Conservancy later met and tried to apply pressure to the Health Ministry to publicize the information more widely. To Ms. Hemmi it seemed that the Ministry merely posted this announcement on their website to curb more damaging rumors. “If the government continues to allow the sale of dolphin meat, the packaging should carry warning labels, or even better, the sale of dolphin meat should be banned,” said Ms. Hemmi.

There is one more related topic. It is with regard to the Minamata disease studies conducted at Kumamoto University’s Research Department. Minamata disease symptoms have been generally thought to only affect peripheral nerves, but the university has presented findings that in fact the brain is impacted first. In other words, mercury causes abnormalities in the peripheral nerves that work for the brain. Even 30 years after the initial pollution is gone, its symptoms still persist in the brain. Once contaminated, it is difficult for the brain to recover its normal function. http://www.aileenarchive.or.jp/minamata_jp/documents/ 060425ekino.html.

If you view “The Cove” as an anti-dolphin drive movie, you may overlook the truly important message that the movie is trying to convey. This film has publicized a critical issue and won numerous awards as the documentary film of the year in other countries. Ironically we should ask ourselves why this movie is not being shown in Japan.

To the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry

Recommendation of the discontinuation of the use of pilot whale for human consumption
August 7, 2008

Excerpts
During the last 10 years, results of scientific studies have revealed an even gloomier picture of the adverse health effects that are caused by contaminants in pilot whale meat and blubber.

The results have so far shown that:

• Mercury from pilot whale meat adversely affects the fetal development of the nervous system
• The mercury effect is still detectable during adolescence
• The mercury from the maternal diet affects the blood pressure of the children
• The contaminants of the blubber adversely affect the immune system so that the children react more poorly to immunizations

The newest studies show that

• Contaminants in pilot whales appear to increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease those who eat it often
• The risk of hypertension and arteriosclerosis of the carotid arteries is increased in adults who have an increased exposure to mercury

Currently, studies are underway to examine the fertility of the population, since suspicion has been raised that reproductive functions may be decreased because of contaminants in pilot whale meat and blubber…

The growing scientific documentation has, during recent years, given rise to the anticipation that the time was approaching when it would be appropriate to recommend against human consumption of pilot whale meat and blubber. From the latest research results, the undersigned consider that the conclusion from a human health perspective must be as follows:

It is recommended that pilot whale is no longer used for human consumption.

It is with great sadness that this recommendation is provided. The pilot whale has served the Faroese well for many hundreds of year and has likely kept may Faroese alive through the centuries. But the times and environment are changing, and we therefore believe that this recommendation is necessary from a human health point of view…

Yours sincerely,

Høgni Debes Joensen, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Landslægen
Pál Weihe, MD, Chief Physician

汚染されたクジラ・イルカ由来食品の販売を禁止しない日本

www.eia-international.org 2008

要旨
この１０年の間に、日本で販売されている鯨類(クジラ、イルカ)由来食品の有毒化学物質の汚染濃度に関しては、専門家による独立評価が数多く行なわれてきた。専門家仲間による査読を受けた複数の科学論文によって、イルカ肉が政府の暫定的規制値の数百倍という濃度の水銀に汚染されていることが明らかにされている。