World Whaling

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Norway

Norwegian Whale Boat
Photo: Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries

For several thousand years, according to archeological evidence, and into the present, Norway has been a whaling nation. Making it one of the oldest whaling cultures in the world and is also one of the few nations currently engaged in "commercial" whaling.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling does not apply to Norway, a nation that lodged a formal objection to it based, in part, on Norway's assertion that the IWC's own scientific findings support the Norwegian harvest. A far cry from the "pirate whaling" it is often portrayed as being, Norway's commercial whale fishery is under strict government control, with annual quotas established in accordance with an internationally agreed upon conservative method for calculating sustainable harvests. Proceeds from the commercial sale of whale meat allow the local families who own and operate the small-size coastal whaling vessels to make a living in a region where agriculture and manufacturing are not viable alternatives.
The Norwegian whale harvest is small. A total of 36 small boats are licensed to share a quota of 711 whales (in 2003). This harvest represents less than 1% of the robust Northern and Central Atlantic stock of minke whales (184,000 est.). The entire Norwegian whale harvest is minute.
Although whale meat taken is consumed domestically, there is no market and little appetite for the blubber in Norway. Nor, however, do the Norwegian whalers wish to waste all of the blubber left over after the carcass is processed. Although there are a number of communities around the world who are eager for blubber and the nutrition it provides, nevertheless legal barriers established decades ago, restrict this trade to a few countries.
Because of these trade barriers, some 600 tonnes of blubber (a food source rich in omega-3 fatty acids and essential nutrients) sits idle in cold storage in Norway, cut off from the peoples and communities who would benefit from the nutrition it provides. However, the Norwegian government has begun exporting blubber and meat to Iceland in 2002. Such exports are legal under international trade regulations.

See also:
Whale Watchers and Whale Consumers Come Together in Norway - A paper by Canadian author Joan Goddard. (October 2000)

For more information on whaling in Norway, visit: High North Alliance