A suspicious wound to the neck of a minke whale...a haphazard mix-up?

[Anchor]
Minke whales, which range from tens of millions to up to 200 million won each, are called the "Lotto of the Sea."Capturing

whales is prohibited, but so-called mixed whales, which are caught in nets, are allowed to be sold exceptionally.

Environmental groups are exploiting this and demanding protection measures, saying illegal capture under the guise of mixed fishing is also frequent.

Reporter Song Se-hyuk reports.

[Reporter]
This is a 5.2m long minke whale that was found dead after being caught in a net off Goseong, Gangwon-do, on the 10th.

The neck has a sharp cut to the knife.

Nevertheless, the Coast Guard issued a confirmation of treatment to fishermen who found the whale, saying there were no signs of illegal capture, and sold it for 60 million won.As for the wounds around the neck

, the Coast Guard explained that the fishermen lost blood to reduce the weight of the transport.

However, the whale conservation group strongly criticizes the body for damaging it before the license to sell it in order to get a high price.

[Peony/Hot Pink Dolphins CEO: Blood is destroyed right after death. It's to prevent that, and it's because whales can be traded fresher, at a higher price, and that's what I was aiming for.]

Over the past decade, 716 minke whales have died in nets in Korea, with an average of more than 70 annually. The transaction price of

ranges from tens of millions of won to up to 200 million won each.

In the last five years, there have been four fishermen who have mixed more than five minke whales.

In particular, one of them made more than 400 million won by mixing minke whales eight times.

If the whale in the net is alive, measures must be taken to rescue it, but it is difficult to prove its intentionality even if it is deliberately left unattended and killed.

[Park Gyeom-jun / National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research: If you can't move your body while diving, you'll drown because you can't get injured to breathe.]

The Whale Protection Organization suggested that in the long run the sale itself should be banned, phasing out whale sales permits.

I'm YTN's Song Sehyuk.

Filmmaker for
: Kim Dong-cheol
Design: Oh Jae-young