The Japanese media's lack of condemnation is the principal reason mercury-tainted dolphin meat continues to be consumed, including in school lunches, a local assembly member from Wakayama Prefecture said Monday.
Junichiro Yamashita of the Taiji Municipal Assembly criticized the nation's media for their reluctance to report the hazards of dolphin meat, even though samples from local supermarkets have contained mercury levels 10 times above the health ministry's advisory limit.
"The media have concerns because such information can impact the fishing industry in Taiji," Yamashita told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. "But it is problematic that local residents, including parents of schoolchildren, remain unaware of the issue."