DNA archive in fight against Japanese whale meat sales

URL: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v408/n6812/full/408508a0_fs.html

Date accessed: 31 January 2001

[TOKYO] The Japanese Fishery Agency has announced plans to clamp down on the sale of illegal whale meat by archiving the DNA of captured whales.

In Japan, only a few kinds of whale meat are allowed to be sold, including Minke whales caught in a controversial research programme, and there is widespread doubt about the source of meat in shops.

The agency plan involves registering DNA from whale skin samples as soon as a whale is captured. Eventually, a database would allow the meat in supermarkets to be traced. Regulating the distribution of whale meat is seen as a step towards overcoming international resistance to the resumption of commercial whaling.

Category: 53. Novel DNA Uses