Whaling in Norway involves hunting of
minke whales
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish na ...
for use as animal and human food in Norway and for export to Japan.
Whale hunting
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry a ...
has been a part of Norwegian coastal culture for centuries, and commercial operations targeting the minke whale have occurred since the early 20th century. Some still continue the practice in the modern day.
History
Norwegians caught whales off the coast of
Tromsø
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies ...
as early as the 9th or 10th century. Vikings from Norway also introduced whaling methods for driving small cetaceans, like pilot whales, into fjords in Iceland. The Norse sagas, and other ancient documents, provide few details on Norwegian whaling. The sagas recount some disputes between families over dead whales but do not describe any organized whale fishery in Norway.
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Spear-drift whaling was practised in the North Atlantic as early as the 12th century. In open boats, hunters would strike a whale with a marked spear, with the intent of later locating the dead beached whale to claim a rightful share.
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Svalbard
From the early 17th century through the 18th century, Basque whalers hunted as far north as
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
and
Bear Island, to include participation in Dutch and English whaling expeditions there. Competition between nations led to over-exploitation of whale stocks and multiple armed naval conflicts in the early 17th century. By the middle of the 17th century, other European nations also hunted whales in these lucrative waters.
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The whales were primarily hunted to render oil from the blubber for production of soap, paint, varnish, oil for illumination, and more. The baleen, or whalebone, was also used in products like corsets and umbrellas. On arrival at Spitsbergen, the whalers would set anchor, then construct a shore station with materials from the ship. The whales were spotted from shore, then chased and lanced repeatedly from the bow of a
shallop
Shallop is a name used for several types of boats and small ships (French ''chaloupe'') used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Originally smaller boats based on the chalupa, the watercraft named this ranged from small boats a l ...
. The whale carcass was next towed back to the shore station where the blubber was removed and boiled down. Finally, the whale oil was stored in wooden casks which were loaded onto the anchored ship.
The Dutch used
Jan Mayen Island
Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger n ...
as a base for whaling. They also established a semi-permanent shore station in the early 17th century on
Amsterdam Island
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area ...
, Svalbard, which became the village of
Smeerenburg
Smeerenburg was a whaling settlement on Amsterdam Island in northwest Svalbard. It was founded by the Danish and Dutch in 1619 as one of Europe's northernmost outposts. With the local bowhead whale population soon decimated and whaling devel ...
. Norwegian ships were also sent to Svalbard during the 18th century.
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Modern whaling
New techniques and technologies developed in the mid 19th century which revolutionized the whaling industry and Norway's prominence as a whaling nation.
In 1865,
Thomas Welcome Roys
Thomas Welcome Roys (c. 1816 - d. 1877) was an American whaleman. He was significant in the history of whaling in that he discovered the Western Arctic bowhead whale population and developed and patented whaling rockets in order to hunt the faste ...
and C. A. Lilliendahl, tested their experimental rocket harpoon design and set up a shore station in
Seyðisfjörður
Seyðisfjörður () is a town in the Eastern Region of Iceland at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name. The town is located in the municipality of Múlaþing.
A road over Fjarðarheiði mountain pass (elevation ) connects Seyðisfjö ...
, Iceland. A slump in oil prices after the American Civil War forced their endeavor into bankruptcy in 1867.
[
] A Norwegian,
Svend Foyn, also studied the American method in Iceland.
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Svend Foyn, who came to be considered the 'Father of modern whaling', was born in
Tønsberg
Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...
in 1809. After years of experiments and expeditions, he patented the modern whaling harpoon in 1870, the basic design of which is still in use today. He perceived the failings of other methods and solved these problems in his own system. He included, with the help of H.M.T. Esmark, a grenade tip that exploded inside the whale. This harpoon design also utilized a shaft that was connected to the head with a moveable joint. His original cannons were muzzle-loaded with special padding and also used a unique form of gunpowder. The cannons were later replaced with safer breech-loading types.
In 1864, Foyn took his first whaling ship to
Finnmark
Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024.
On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...
but was unsuccessful and only caught a few whales. However, with the 1870 introduction of his improved harpoon design, and powered ships, larger rorquals could be chased and killed with new and deadly efficiency.
There were many others whose ideas predated Foyn's method. In 1867, a Danish fireworks manufacturer, Gaetano Amici, patented a cannon fired harpoon. An Englishman, George Welch, patented a grenade harpoon, also in 1867, very similar to Foyn's invention. In 1856, Phillip Rechten, of Bremen, Germany, together with the gunsmith Cordes, produced a double-barreled whale gun (and later claimed credit for Foyn's success) with a separate harpoon and
bomb lance. Another Norwegian, Jacob Nicolai Walsøe experimented with an explosive tipped projectile design. A third Norwegian, Arent Christian Dahl, also experimented with explosive harpoons from 1857 to 1860.
From 1873 to 1883, Foyd enjoyed a whaling monopoly granted to him by the Norwegian government to protect him from German competitors. He moved his whaling operation from Tønsberg to
Vadsø
Vadsø (; sme, Čáhcesuolu; fkv, Vesisaari) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vadsø, which was the administrative centre of the former Finnmark county. Other ...
, and enjoyed great success in spite of frequent disputes between the whalers and the people of Vadsø, including fishermen who blamed the whalers for poor catches. He also established guano factories rather than letting the stripped whale carcasses go to waste. Attempts to market the meat for domestic consumption were unsuccessful.
Regardless of the monopoly, in 1876, some Norwegian citizens formed another whaling company and hunted whales from a site at the
Varanger fjord
The Varangerfjord ( en, Varanger Fjord; russian: Варангер-фьорд, Варяжский залив; fi, Varanginvuono; sme, Várjavuonna) is the easternmost fjord in Norway, north of Finland. The fjord is located in Troms og Finnmark co ...
where the Germans had initially established themselves. After a court dispute, Foyn made concessions to several other whaling companies, including the first modern whaling company in
Sandefjord
Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...
. When the monopoly ended, Norwegian competitors multiplied, the number of whaling stations and ships doubled, and whale stocks suffered dramatically due to unrestricted catching. Fin whales and blue whales were favored targets with 1,046 fin and 148 blue killed just from 1885 to 1886.
Small boat whalers also hunted bottlenose whales in large numbers. By 1890, up to seventy vessels claimed about 3,000 of the 30 ft long whales annually.
Svend Foyn died in 1894 at the age of eighty-five.
Whaling ban
In 1878, an extremely poor fishing season prompted renewed objections to whaling. A public scientific committee recommended a closed whaling season from January through May. In 1880, the Norwegian Parliament debated and adopted the proposal. A ban on whale catching, in the Varanger fjord, would take place from 1 Jan to 31 May for a period of five years starting in January 1881. Whaling grew in economic importance to Norway, but by 1883, poor fishing catches brought renewed calls for a total ban. The closed season was renewed for another 5 years, from 1886 through 1890.
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Fishermen stepped up their pressure on the government after more dismal catches in 1886 and 1887, and an excellent catch in 1889 did not deter their opposition. Whaling companies used the 1889 success as an opportunity to condemn all restrictions on the industry, but the closed season was extended for another five years to 1896.
The conflict between whalers and fishermen had become a significant political issue by the 1900 election. Varanger fishing, where whaling was most intense, from 1901 to 1903, went even worse for the economic hardship of fishermen. As the disputes shifted into a class struggle, Russian competition and agitation shaped the official response. Politicians were also increasingly concerned about losing the votes of so many fishermen. Then, in June 1903, fishermen destroyed a whaling station of the Tanen Whaling Company in the "Menhaven Riots". A bill was passed before the end of the year banning all whaling in Norway's three northernmost counties for a period of 10 years, beginning February 1, 1904.
Iceland
In 1883, whaling expanded from Norwegian waters to Iceland as unrestricted catching depleted whale stocks off the coast of Norway.
[
] Svend Foyn made several attempts to profit from whaling in Iceland but was ultimately unsuccessful. In reaction to demands that Norwegians working in Iceland should become naturalized Icelandic (and therefore Danish) subjects, Foyn sold his shares to company partners and abandoned his plans for whaling in Iceland. The major shareholder, Thomas Amlie of Oslo, assumed the role of expedition manager and enjoyed great success. As a result, competing companies transferred their operations to Iceland. In a violent storm in 1897, Amlie was lost at sea with one of his whaling ships and all 32 hands. He died at the age of 82. Amlie is considered the father of modern whaling in Iceland.
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Between 1883 and 1915 ten (mostly Norwegian) whaling companies were founded and operated 14 shore stations on the east and west coasts of Iceland. One of the most successful companies, managed by Hans Ellefsen of Vestfold, in its best year produced ¼ of all of the whale oil in Iceland. He also used whale carcasses stripped of their blubber as raw material for a guano factory. However, in response to the decline of whale stocks, Ellefsen moved his operation to South Africa in 1911.
Faroe Islands
In 1894, Hans Albert Grøn of Sandefjord established the first of seven whaling station in the Faroe Islands at Gjánoyri, near
Langasandur
Langasandur ( da, Langesand) is a village located on the Faroese island of Streymoy in the municipality of Sunda.
The village was settled in 1938, the name Langasandur means Longbeach.
Whaling station
In 1894, the first whaling station in ...
on
Streymoy. There, his whaling company was able to take advantage of the migrating blue, fin, and sei whales that passed by the Faroes each year.
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Unlike
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and northern Norway, where fishermen opposed the industry, the Faroese embraced whaling and enjoyed the new source of cheap whale meat. The Danish government insisted by law that whaling must be reserved for Danish citizens or companies in which Danes were significant shareholders. In 1901, Grøn established another station and a Danish-Norwegian company which operated from a base near Tórshavn.
Peder Bogen founded A/S Suderø, originally in Sandefjord, as another Danish-Norwegian venture in 1901. In 1908 he built a guano factory and used the product to endure seasons with poor yields or low whale oil prices. Competition continued to increase and as many as six shore stations operated from 1906 to 1911. After production peaked in 1909, Grøn left the Faroes in 1911 only to lose several ships at sea, including a floating factory. Grøn returned for successful 1914–15 seasons but was unable to make a significant catch in 1916. From 1917 to 1920, World War I interrupted whaling in the Norwegian Sea, and it was hoped that whale stocks had recovered in that time. Whale oil prices had dropped in 1920 along with the possibility of profitable whaling. Regardless, one Norwegian company continued to operate in the Faroes until the 1930s.
Shetland Islands
In 1903, Peder Bogen of Sandefjord and Christian Nielsen of
Larvik
Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...
, brought their whaling companies to the Shetland Islands. At first, the whalers were welcomed by local herring fishermen whose nets were often damaged by whales. After the first season of whaling, and poor herring catches, the fishermen turned against the whalers. The fishermen believed the offal and blood from whale carcasses attracted sharks and frightened the herring. In 1904, an official committee was unable to determine any link between whaling and herring stocks. Although catches had suffered for years, fishermen insisted on blaming the whalers and protests led to many new restrictions. After the World War I stoppage, in 1920, renewed objections to whaling persuaded the Norwegian companies to leave.
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Hebrides and Ireland
In 1904, a Norwegian whaling company built the Bunaveneader station in
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
and caught North Atlantic right whales there for the next decade. After the World War I stoppage, whaling resumed there with a successful season in 1920. The success was short lived and the company was sold in 1922.
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In 1907, a Norwegian-British whaling company, Arranmore Whaling, named for the island of Arran, was founded. However, local fishermen opposed the whalers immediately and the company was forced to set up its station 90 miles away at the
Inishkea Islands
The Inishkea Islands (Irish: ''Inis Cé'') are situated off the coast of the Belmullet peninsula in Ireland. The islands are believed to be named after a saint that lived on the island called Saint Kea. There are two main islands - Inishkea Nor ...
. Another Norwegian-British company, Blacksod Whaling Company Ltd., also set up near Inishkea in 1910. Arranmore folded in 1913. After the World War I stoppage, Blacksod continued for one good season but its station burned down in February 1922, ending whaling out of Ireland.
Return to Svalbard
In 1903, A/S Ørnen, established by Norwegian shipowner Christen Christensen of Sandefjord, sent an expedition to Svalbard to conduct whaling with a steam powered
floating factory. Christensen's own shipyard fitted a small wooden steam ship for the task, the ''Telegraf''. Weather and the storage capacity of the ship limited the success of the expedition. A second ship, ''Admiralen'', was purchased for the following season.
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Competition increased and by 1905 as many as eight companies operated from Svalbard to Bear Island, catching large numbers of blue whales, well outside of Norway's jurisdiction and whaling regulations. A/S Ørnen closed its operation and ''Admiralen'' sailed to Antarctica. Other Norwegian companies sent their floating factories south as well. From 1907 to 1908, four more companies closed down. The remaining three continued until 1912 when poor catches forced them out, with losses, as well. Two more unsuccessful attempts would be made in the 1920s.
Newfoundland
Adolph Neilsen of Tønesberg brought modern whaling to Newfoundland through his Cabot Steam Whaling Company in 1898. With a shore station in Notre Dame Bay, the company caught blue, fin, sei, and humpback whales. To continue the hunt in winter months, another station was set up on Hermitage Bay. A local competitor established two additional stations in 1901 but was completely dependent on Norwegian equipment and gunners.
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After the first season, local fishermen voiced opposition to the whalers with fears that their fisheries would be ruined, nets destroyed by panicked whales, and those who lived close to the shore stations complained of the stench. The Department of Fisheries expressed concerns over the dramatic decline of whales in Norway's own waters. However, local competition in Newfoundland increased significantly and by 1904, fourteen stations were in production with four more in 1905. Predictably, over-hunting led to poor returns and in 1906 the sole Norwegian company folded. By 1910, only five whaling companies remained. While losses were incurred by local whaling companies, Norwegian catching equipment and crews were widely used which ultimately benefited Norway.
Japan
In 1898,
Jūrō Oka
Jūrō Oka ( ''Oka Jūrō'', 27 July 1870 – 8 January 1923) was a Japanese businessman considered the "father of Japanese whaling".
In the 1890s oka travelled to the West to acquire whaling techniques and equipment, and in 1899 establi ...
(father of modern Japanese whaling) toured the world to learn about modern whaling. He traveled to Norway for harpoons and cannons, and returned to Japan to establish its first modern whaling company, Nihon Enyo Gyogyo K.K. (later named Toyo Hogei K.K.). February 4, 1900, Oka's Norwegian gunner, Morten Pedersen, shot the first whale. Pedersen had previously worked with the Russians and was employed with a lucrative three-year contract. Other Norwegian whalers found employment with Japanese companies as well. Norwegian newspapers expressed concerns over the creation of a fierce foreign competitor with Norwegian assistance.
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Oka also leased and purchased modern whaling ships from Norwegian companies, starting with the ''Olga'', the ''Rex'' and the ''Regina''. When the ''Olga'' was later sold, its gunner was sent to Oslo to contract the construction of a new catcher, the ''Togo'', which was delivered in 1906 as the first of many whaling ships built in Norwegian shipyards for Japan. Some of the Norwegian built whaling ships from businesses that failed in Newfoundland were also bought by Japanese companies.
Alaska
Norwegian and Scottish investors established the United States Whaling Co. in Sandefjord in 1910 with Peder Bogen as its managing director. The company built three whaling ships in Seattle (to avoid delays in production) and leased a steamer to use as a floating factory. Baranof Island was the site of its shore station. The factory ship was condemned by locals who claimed foreigners would destroy whale stocks with cheap Norwegian labor. Catches produced only a small fraction of the expected oil revenue in its first year.
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Another business, the Alaska Whaling Co., was established in 1911 by investors from Norway (including Lars Christensen) and Norwegian-Americans. The company's shore station was set up in Akutan – an island in the
Aleutians
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...
. Fishermen protested against the floating factory and biologists raised concerns for the survival of gray and bowhead whales.
The Alaska Whaling Co. purchased the ''Admiralen'' (first steam powered factory ship to be used in Antarctica in 1905) for its floating factory in 1912. However, even with two catchers built in Seattle, production did not meet expectations and additional losses were incurred. In 1913 the company became the Co. with an all American board.
Norwegian companies caught large numbers of blue whales and profited from a wartime increase in the price of whale oil from 1915 to 1918. However, the boom ended in 1919 with a sharp decline in oil prices and a shrinking market in the U.S. resulting in bankruptcy.
Chile
Adolf Amandus Andresen immigrated to Chile in 1894 where he prospered as a tugboat captain. He later returned to Norway to learn about the whaling industry in Finnmark. In 1903 Andresen, with a harpoon cannon mounted on one of his tugboats, shot his first whale in Chilean waters. He later managed the Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes (the Magellan Whaling Company) with a shore station in Bahía Aguila.
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Andresen's 1907 catch of 79 right whales drew competition to the area though the success went unmatched. In 1914 he set out from San Pedro with a factory ship, ''Sobraon'', and two catchers to hunt humpbacks along the coast from Chile, Peru, Ecuador and on to Colombia following the migrating animals. Andresen was the first person to raise the Chilean flag on Antarctica. However, his whaling business ultimately failed as a result of economic depression and the collapsing world market for whale oil.
Encouraged by Andresen, another Norwegian whaler, Christen Christensen, sent the ''Vesterlide'' to San Pedro, captained by his own son, to hunt blue whales in the Bay of Corcovado. Christensen also financially backed another whaling company, Sociedad Ballenera y Pescadora, which was operated by H.C. Korsholm in Valdivia. Unfortunately, the returns were inadequate and both companies were liquidated by 1913.
Commercial whaling
Recently, the Norwegian whaling industry has met increasing difficulties because of falling demand and weak recruitment. Norwegian anti-whaling groups seem to prefer to hold a low profile and watch over the slow death of the industry, instead of raising their voice and polarizing the debate.
In the last decade or two, some Norwegian scientists, veterinarians and technicians have made many contributions to the improvement of whale killing technologies, methods, and regulations, which have led to more humane outcomes for hunted whales (such as improvements in time to death and instantaneous death rate).
Only
minke whaling is currently permitted, from a population of 107,000 animals in the North East
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and is argued by proponents and government officials to be sustainable.
Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...
Newspaper
Whaling quota draws fire
Still, it has been frequently criticized by the international community, environmentalists and
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
groups as Norway, along with
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, is one of very few countries that still allows
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
.
Norway registered an objection to the
International Whaling Commission
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation of ...
(IWC) commercial whaling moratorium, and is thus not bound by it.
In 1993, Norway resumed a commercial catch, following a period of five years where a small catch was made under scientific permit. Norwegian minke whale catches have fluctuated between 218 animals in 1995 and 646 in 2003.
During the decade immediately prior to the moratorium, Norway caught around 2,000 minke whales per year. The North Atlantic hunt is divided into five areas and usually lasts from early May to late August. Norway has exported a limited amount of whale meat to the
Faroes
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betw ...
and Iceland. It has been attempting to export to Japan for several years and this was realized in 2009.
In May 2004, the
Norwegian Parliament
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...
passed a resolution to considerably increase the number of minkes hunted each year. The
Ministry of Fisheries also initiated a satellite tracking program of various whale species to monitor migration patterns and diving behavior. The tagging research program has been under way since 1999.
In 2018, when the Norwegian whaling quota was increased by 30%, a quota of 1,278 minke whales a year was set, which applied up to 2021. Since the 1993 hunt resumption the Norwegian quota has rarely been fully met.
The quota was reduced to 917 in 2022. Since 2016 the annual catch has fluctuated between 400 and 600 minke whales.
Consumption and subsidies
Consumption
Whale meat captured in Norway is primarily eaten by humans. In 2014 113 metric tonnes of offal and other byproducts were sold to make animal feed for the fur industry.
Whale meat is also used as a niche product for pet food in Norway.
According to opinion polls by Opinion in 2009 and 2010, about 80% of Norwegians have eaten whale meat. About 32% ate it once or twice a year. 7% (2009) or "under 5%" (2010) of Norwegians eat whale meat often (more than once a month). In 2018 about 153 tonnes of whale meat was exported to Japan.
Subsidies
The Norwegian government formerly paid subsidies equal to about half the value of whales caught;
subsidies are no longer paid.
Production
![NorwegianWhaleCatches](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/NorwegianWhaleCatches.png)
Modern minke whaling is conducted by many small to medium-sized fishing boats in spring and summer seasons. These vessels are equipped with a or harpoon cannon and penthrite grenade tipped harpoons designed to explode inside the whale. Each harpoon is connected to a nylon line and through a system of springs to a winch.
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The boats search known whaling grounds surrounding the coast of Norway at 4-6 knots watching for signs of feeding whales or flocks of birds eating krill. When a whale is spotted the gunner attempts to shoot the whale in its side, near the thorax, as the animal surfaces to blow. If the whale does not appear to die immediately the animal is hauled up to the boat where whalers with rifles will attempt to finish the animal with a shot to the head. In rare cases, a second harpoon shot may be necessary, but this is quite rare.
When the dead minke whale is alongside of the boat a wire or rope is secured to the tail and the animal is pulled onto the deck through a gate on the gunwale. The whale is butchered at sea and the meat and blubber is then packed in ice and stored on the boat to be processed later on shore.
Catches
Norway has caught hundreds of whales per year since 1985.
The former Fisheries Minister,
Per Sandberg
Per Sandberg (born 6 February 1960) is a Norwegian politician for the Capitalist Party and formerly the Progress Party who served as the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries from 2015 to 2018. Sandberg was a member of the Norwegian parliament from ...
, of the
Progress Party said in 2018, "I want to make sure that the whaling remains alive."
However the number of active Norwegian whaling boats has dropped from 350 in 1949
to around 20 in 2016 and 11 in 2017.
IWC – Norway Minke Whale Catches Under Objection (1985–2017)
[1939-2007, ]
[1986-2019, ]
[2017, ][2019-2020, ]
IWC – Norway Minke Whale Special Permit Catches (1988–1994)
Education and training of hunters
Norwegian whaling is subject to strict and detailed regulations concerning all aspects of the whaling activities. There are rules for hunting seasons, quotas, equipment and monitoring. The permission to go whaling is given on an annual basis, and there are certain requirements that must be met in order to get a licence.
One of the most important conditions is the unconditional requirement of having passed the obligatory course for licence holders and gunners. The training courses are mandatory and arranged by the Directorate of Fisheries.
Each year prior to the beginning of each hunting season, the hunters are required to pass obligatory shooting tests, both with rifle and harpoon guns.
Whale grenades
Due to the expense of explosive charges and the relatively small size of minke whales, cold (non-explosive) harpoons were used by Norwegian minke whalers up to 1984. The Norwegian College of Veterinary Science (Norges veterinærhøgskole - NVH) conducted experiments to develop a new explosive tipped harpoon that could reduce the average time to death.
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Four types of "whale grenades" were developed using the explosive
penthrite. Two of these were made for and cannons, one for cannons for Icelanders hunting fin and sei whales, and one for the darting guns used by Alaskan subsistence whalers. In 2000, an improved model called Hvalgranat-99 (Whalegrenade-99), previously developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt - FFI), was put into production and is currently used by Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Japan. The development of this technology was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries which recovered the cost through the sale of whale grenades.
A study in 1985-1986 showed that the introduction of the penthrite grenade prototype increased the instantaneous death rate (IDR) of minke whales from 17% to 45%. In 2000, the improved Whalegrenade-99 became mandatory and, combined with better training, further increased the IDR to 80% in all three subsequent whaling seasons.
Controversy
Opposition
Animal rights, environmental and anti-whaling groups have commented that Norway's economic position makes it
paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
ical that it is one of very few countries actively engaged in, and favoring the continuation of, commercial whaling. This is despite the argued negligible contribution that whaling makes to the economy, and despite international opposition.
According to documents released by
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
, former US president
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, who promised to oppose whaling during
his presidential campaign, used diplomatic channels to put pressure on Norway during his visit for the conferment of the
2009 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States President Barack Obama (b. 1961) for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award o ...
.
Support
Pro-whaling entities, such as the
North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, have commented that it is a violation of sovereign rights to impose anti-whaling regulations on an independent state, and raise concerns about those nations'
factory farming
Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while ...
operations, which they see as considerably more harmful than whaling. Many supporters of whaling agree that its
macroeconomic
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
importance is negligible, but hold that the livelihood of individuals and small firms depend on it and that
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
depends on human
harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
ing of all non-
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, and that it is an important part of
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
in coastal areas. Arne Kalland argues that international pressure against whaling is a form of
cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...
imposed on Norway.
While not actively supporting whaling, several Norwegian environmental groups have stated that they oppose extreme measures, specifically sabotage, against the whaling industry.
''Sabotasje mot hvalskute i Svolvær''
article in Dagsavisen
''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...
, April 3, 2010.
International Legal Status
Because the government of Norway maintains an objection to paragraph 10(e) (the section referring to the 1986 moratorium) of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), the paragraph is not binding upon the Norwegian government, and thus the 1986 IWC global moratorium does not apply to them.
References
External links
Official Norwegian minke whaling
Norwegian Government environmental policy site explaining Minke whaling policy (English).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whaling In Norway
Economy of Norway
Norwegian culture
Environment of Norway
Norway and the Antarctic