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Sushi chef charged with serving whale meat
Marine mammal activists given endangered species product during three separate restaurant visits
- AP
- Published: 00:00 March 12, 2010
- Image Credit: AP
- The Hump Restaurant, located on the floor above the Typhoon Restaurant, in Santa Monica, California. Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against the food outlet.
Los Angeles: Federal prosecutors filed charges on Wednesday against a sushi chef and a Santa Monica restaurant on allegations that they served illegal and endangered whale meat.
Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant, and sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, were charged with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanour.
According to a search warrant, marine mammal activists were served whale during three separate visits to the restaurant. Federal labs confirmed the meat came from a Sei whale, an endangered species protected by international treaties, documents said.
Agents also seized some suspected whale meat during a search of the restaurant on Friday but are awaiting test results to confirm it was Sei whale, US attorney spokesman Thom Mrozak said.
In October, two activists posing as customers went to The Hump and ordered "omakase," which means they let the chef choose the choicest fresh fish. They also requested whale and pocketed a sample.
The young women worked with Louie Psihoyos, director of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, to record the meal with a hidden camera and microphone.
"These are endangered animals being cut up for dinner," Psihoyos said. "It's an abuse of science."
Psihoyos took their findings to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which started an investigation.
Activists claim the whale meat came from Japan's scientific whaling programme and was illegally exported, but the US attorney's office is still investigating the source of the meat.
Japan kills hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters each year under its research whaling programme, which has triggered violent protests by conservationists and caused strong objections by diplomats in recent years.
An attorney for Typhoon, Gary Lincenberg, said the restaurant accepts responsibility for serving whale and will agree to pay a fine. If convicted, the company could be fined up to $200,000.
Court records say agents interviewed Yamamoto, a Culver City resident and a chef at The Hump for the past seven years, and he admitted serving whale to two young women.
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