The safety of bycatch: South Korean responses to the moratorium on commercial whaling

Abstract

When the global moratorium on commercial whaling was implemented in 1986, Korea prohibited whaling; however, there was no effort to build the capacity of social institutions to guide local residents to cooperate with the policy. Utilizing a social ecology approach, this research examines the practice of eating whale meat in Ulsan, South Korea, to illustrate the importance of culture for attaining the social acceptance of wildlife conservation policy. The cultural models which influence the consumption of whale meat are here classified as representing four distinct responses to the moratorium: opposition, resistance, evasion and support. The two most important changes are the public utilization of whale meat as a symbol of an endangered culture, and the reliance on meat procured legally from accidental entanglements of whales in fishing nets (cetacean bycatch). These cultural changes have a social function, which is to impart legitimacy and acceptance to the continued consumption of whale meat, from illegal as well as legal sources. Given the cultural acceptance of whale meat, I argue that it will not be possible to eradicate the illegal market through enforcement alone. Instead, the solution is to persuade local consumers of whale meat to cooperate with the moratorium. ª 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution for Marine and Island Cultures,

Politics of technology in the informal governance of destructive fishing in Spermonde, Indonesia

“…This is not to say that an absence of law would be a step forward, just that more law is not in itself a solution to social and environmental problems. As Tatar (2014) notes with reference to illegal whaling in South Korea, 'the problem should be understood as a failure of social institutions to establish rules to guide the members of the society toward a desirable conservation outcome.' All things considered, however, the informal governance system succeeds in guiding social roles, livelihoods, and human-environment interaction.…”

Research Article Molecular species identification of whale meat in South Korean markets

“…Of the 65 countries that consume whale meat, South Korea is the fifth largest consumer (Costello and Baker, 2011). In South Korea, whale meat is not very popular, but it is regarded as a local delicacy mainly in the southeastern coastal cities of Ulsan, Busan, Gyeongju, and Pohang (Tatar, 2014). Minke whale meat is the best-selling owing to its preferred flavor.…”