By Raquel Maria Dillon
The Associated Press
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Federal prosecutors have filed charges against the owner of a California restaurant and its sushi chef that marine mammal activists say served illegal whale meat.
Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica, and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, a 45-year-old Culver City resident, were charged Wednesday with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanor.
Two undercover diners requested whale as part of an $600 omakase (oh-mah-KAH'-say) or chef’s choice, meal. The young women were working with the producers of the Oscar-winning documentary, “The Cove,” to record the whole meal.
They pocketed a sample, and genetic testing confirmed that it was meat from the endangered Sei whale.
If convicted, Yamamoto could face a year in prison and a fine of $100,000. The company could be fined $200,000.