HOKKAIDO, Japan, June 22 (UPI) -- Japan's hamburger restaurant chain Lucky Pierrot, active mostly in Hokkaido, will begin selling whale burgers Thursday, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday.
Whale and lamb burgers were the two most popular choices in a contest held by the Silk Road Group, which owns Lucky Pierrot.
The chain originally planned to sell only burgers based on the most popular choice, which was the lamb burger, but it also added whale meat, which was the second most popular choice.
The burgers are cooked with the meat of mink whales caught under what is known as "research whaling." They will be sold for $3.5 each.
It is the first time for mink whale burgers to be sold in Japan. The whale is protected under international conventions, though Japan is allowed to catch a certain quantity for "research" each year.
Lucky Pierrot's whale burgers will go on sale just two days after the International Whale Commission upheld a moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan had been seeking to rescind the ban that has been in place since 1986.
