Whaling in Norway

(from "ISANA" No. 9, 1993)

Zenjiro Doi
 Senior Staff Writer, Asahi Shimbun


This summer I had a chance to visit fishing ports in Norway. Everywhere I went, I heard people talking about their government's recent decision to resume commercial whaling. A middle-aged man in a fish shop, who was selling whale meat, recognized me as being Japanese and addressed me as "my friend". On a cruise along the fjord-indented coastline, a passenger said to me, "It is not right for people who hunt foxes for sport to blame others for taking whales for food," and asked whether I agreed. My general impression was that the people of Norway applaud their government's decision to resume commercial whaling, though they remain a trifle concerned about how they might be seen in the eyes of the world.

When the time came to restart commercial whaling, the Norwegian government seemed to have taken all the necessary precautions. Prior to the departure of the whaling vessels, a seminar organized by the Fisheries Ministry was held for the whalers on the island of Lofoten, inside the Arctic Circle, where the whaling fleet is based. After the whalers had been instructed on various issues from the environmental implications of whaling to actual operational guidance, catch quotas were allocated to each vessel, with a maximum of seven whales per vessel.

Intensive training was also given to government-appointed observers who would be accompanying the whalers at sea. The average number of grenades to be used per whale should not exceed 1.5, and whaling could only be conducted north of 70 degrees North. An official from the Fisheries Ministry told me that these measures were aimed at countering "unreasonable criticisms" from abroad. The number of vessels to operate was reduced to 28 from the initially planned 33. The reason, I was told, was that the operation was not expected to be profitable, because of the remoteness of the whaling ground, the low quotas and the strict regulations.

Abbreviated signals have been devised for communication during the operation between whaling boats and enforcement vessels, to cope with possible obstructions by the vessels of anti-whaling organizations. In some fishing ports I saw Norwegian Navy patrol boats. According to local residents, immediately after the government announced its decision to allow commercial catches, three opponents of whaling from Greenpeace staged a demonstration. Two of them sneaked aboard a whaling vessel and chained themselves to the deck. Seeing this, the crew did nothing to intervene, sensing that the third activist would take photographs for use in anti-whaling propaganda. But the activists retreated from the vessel that night because, as one crewmember recalled, "it was awfully cold out there."

Anti-whaling forces in Norway are not so powerful, the Fisheries Agency official told me. I asked if this was because Norway is dependent on marine resources. "We are seafaring people, and we know about the oceans very well," he responded. One of the Greenpeace members who had chained themselves to the boat was Norwegian and the other Dutch.

Norway's catch of minke whales for this year was set at 296 - 160 as a commercial quota and 136 taken as part of a scientific research program begun last year. The meat obtained from the research catch was to be put on the market at government-set prices. Last year it sold at Kr 31 (about 460 yen) per kilo. By contrast, meat derived from the commercial quota can be put up for auction. When the first meat arrived in port late in June this year, it fetched Kr 40 (600 yen) per kilo.

When I found whale meat being sold in a fish shop in Oslo, I was astounded to see that both red meat and the prime tail meat were being sold without any distinction. The owner of the shop explained that all kinds whale meat taste good when they are barbecued. This is unbelievable luxury for the Japanese. I met a fish dealer who has been collecting the blubber - which the Norwegians do not consume and therefore discard - in the hope of exporting it to Japan. "I have already 100 tons of blubber in store," he told me.

Norwegians still seem to be concerned about the moves of anti-whaling groups. In England, some fish dealers have stopped buying shrimp or salmon from Norway, and in Germany some major supermarket chains have suspended purchases of Norwegian marine products. The U.S. government is hinting at invoking some form of economic sanctions against Norway because of their whaling. During my stay in Norway, the local newspapers carefully traced developments in other countries, but also did not fail to report a remark by a government official that foreign pressure had not had any substantial adverse effects on the nation's economy.

The government seems to be taking for granted the reactions from anti-whaling nations. Recent reports stated that the government has banned the exportation of any whale products to Japan.

For the time being, the government seems to be determined to use the stick-and-carrot policy while holding fast to its decision to continue commercial whaling. The majority of the population are still opposed to Norway joining the European Community. All I could see at Norwegian fishing ports was the people's delight at the government's decision to resume whaling. They told me that Japan should follow Norway's lead. I certainly gained the impression that it would be hard for Norway to lower the flag allowing a resumption of whaling now that it has been raised.

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