NYT: An Apology for Selling Whale Meat (Sei whale, an endangered species)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/us/21sushi.html

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

“Closing the restaurant is a self-imposed punishment on top of the fine that will be meted out by the court,” the statement reads. “The owner of the Hump also will be taking additional action to save endangered species.”

This month, armed with tiny video cameras and microphones, the team behind “The Cove,” the Oscar-winning documentary film about dolphin hunting, created its own undercover operation at the Hump, at the Santa Monica airport. The group bagged up samples of tender meat served in a costly omakase — or chef’s choice dinner — and sent them to a scientist in Oregon, who determined the meat to be Sei whale, an endangered species.

The filmmakers took their findings to federal law enforcement officials, who brought charges against the restaurant and its chef for selling marine mammals, a misdemeanor that could carry up to a year in prison and a $200,000 fine. The charges were not contested.

Environmentalists and local officials in Santa Monica contemplated taking their own actions. Calls for a boycott of the restaurant went viral across Southern California.

FULL story at link.

[Dead_Parrot]

1. I hope they follow the supply chain

Unless the chef had a really big boat, somebody is importing that stuff, and possibly to other outlets.