News Archive
Whaling for the Future - Press Release
Whaling for the Future
The meeting of the World Council of Whalers ended today in the Faroe Islands, after four days of discussion on whaling for the future as well as hands-on exchange of information on whale cuisine and flensing techniques.
The meeting brought people from whaling communities and countries in four continents together in the Faroes, where whaling has for centuries provided the Faroese people with an important supply of food.
A feature of the meeting was a special international whale cuisine banquet on Friday evening, when chefs from Greenland, Saint Lucia, Japan, Iceland and the Faroes, showcased the variety of food cultures around the world based on whale resources, with a range of both traditional and innovative whale dishes. While concerns have been expressed about the level of contaminants in some species of whale, the meeting also underlined the fact that whale meat and blubber has well-known health benefits as food for people.
Another highlight of the meeting was a workshop organized by the Faroese pilot
whalers association. Using three whole whale carcasses put aside for the occasion,
participants from around the world were shown how pilot whales are flensed
and how the shares of meat and blubber are distributed in the community. A
whaler from Taiji in Japan took the opportunity to show how the same whales
are flensed for food in his country, and a whaler from the Canadian Arctic
also explained Inuit flensing techniques.
Maori representatives from the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission (Te Ohu Kai Moana) in New Zealand, who are working to develop their traditional use of the bone, teeth and meat of stranded whales, also followed the flensing demonstration with interest. In the Faroe Islands, the annual average catch of pilot whales represents some 30% of all locally produced food. In New Zealand, stranded whales are disposed of rather than utilized.
The Minister of Fisheries of the Faroe Islands, Jorgen Niclasen, who welcomed the World Council of Whalers to the Faroes, noted that after the recent adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development, it is encouraging that the international community has finally begun to understand that whaling is about food security and the rights of peoples to use their resources.
Questions were however raised during the meeting about the continued attempts to actively deny people their rights to use whales as resources for food and other products. The pollution of the marine environment is also having an impact on the quality of this food. But it is the whaling communities who are bearing the costs.
Notes for editors:
The World Council of Whalers (WCW) is an international non-governmental organization
founded in 1997 to provide a forum for whaling peoples worldwide. Its mission
is to promote continued sustainable use of marine living resources, to protect
peoples' cultural, social, economic and dietary rights.
The meeting was attended by representatives from whaling communities in Canada,
the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, St. Lucia
and the United States. This was the 4th assembly of the WCW, prior meetings
have been held in Canada, Iceland and New Zealand.
For further information and pictures, contact the World Council of Whalers
at wcw@island.net. WCW Chairman Tom Mexsis Happynook See also www.worldcouncilofwhalers.com
Footage available from Faroese television (SvF). Contact news editor Øssur
Winthereig mailto:ossur@svf.fo, telephone (00 298) 340 400.