Norwegian whaling
The Norwegian whalers and government portray their whaling industry as small-scale and traditional suggesting that it is somehow different from other commercial whaling.
The truth is that many other countries, such as Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia, also have a long history of whaling. In fact whalers were working from a number of Scottish whaling stations right up until the start of the Second World War and one Hebridean station re-opened for two seasons in the 1950s.
Modern Norwegian minke whaling began in 1930 and for decades was subject to weak regulations that did little to restrict operations. No catch quotas were set until 1975, more than 40 years after the industry began. Allocation of quotas to individual whaling vessels were not given until 1984, only two years before the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium came into force and only at the insistence of the IWC. As minke whales became scarce around the main hunting area of
the Lofoten Islands, Norwegian whalers began to travel further away in search of whales.
By the mid 1980s some of the most productive whaling grounds were off Russia not Norway. 2000 minke whales were killed each year on average by Norwegians whalers in
the Northeast Atlantic between
1930 and 1980 - a level of hunting which was enough to halve the original population.
Norway recommenced commercial whaling in 1993. It was able to circumvent the IWC moratorium by employing the objection loophole in the convention. Norway had lodged a formal objection to the moratorium decision when it was decided by a � majority in 1982 and so remains unbound by the moratorium. By so doing Norway has not acted against the letter of the law but is actively undermining an international agreement.
Since recommencing the commercial hunt, the Norwegian government has awarded its whalers with ever increasing quotas. This year the Norwegian government awarded its whalers a quota of 753 minke whales. Thirty six vessels are licensed to take part in the hunt, each having an individual quota ranging from 14 to 40 whales. The hunt started officially on the 3rd of May, with the first few vessels setting off for the Barents Sea. Other vessels will concentrate their hunt in the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea and around Jan Mayen island.
Norwegian Whale Quotas and Kills Since Recommencing Commercial Whaling in 1993
Year-----Quota------Killed
1993-----226--------226
1994-----301--------259
1995-----232--------218
1996-----425--------381
1997-----580--------503
1998-----671--------624
1999-----753--------
(this would be good as a graph showing the trend in escalating quota)
Makah updates on killing of whale 5-17-99!
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