NORWEGIAN WHALING -
NEITHER SMALL SCALE NOR TRADITIONAL

THE HISTORY

Modern Norwegian minke whaling began around 1930 and for four decades was subject to weak regulations that did little to restrict operations. No actual catch quotas were set until 1975 - more than 40 years after the start of modern minke whaling in Norway. Allocation of quotas to the individual whaling vessels did not occur until 1984, one year before the IWC's moratorium was to come into force and more than half a century after the industry started. The introduction of quotas was generated by the IWC, not by the government of Norway. As minkes became scarce around the main hunting area of the Lofoten Islands, the whalers began to travel further away in search of whales

The hunt began with a catch of 10 a year in 1930. Before the end of the decade it had soared to 1,000 a year, in the 40s it went through 2,000 and year and topped 3,000 a year by the end of the decade and in the 50s it briefly reached 4,000 a year. After that it declined. Despite this, Norwegian whalers and government figures regularly call for a return of the hunt to a level of 2,000 whales a year.

THE SCIENCE

With scientific evidence showing that these whales had been reduced to below 54% of their original population size - the IWC's protection threshold - the Commission declared them a "Protected Stock" at its 1985 meeting. Norway filed an objection to this decision, and thus is not bound by it, but has never been able to prove its position on scientific grounds. In 1991 the IWC's Scientific Committee, including all Norwegian scientists, confirmed that the N.E. Atlantic minkes had suffered a significant decline over the 30 year period 1952-83. A new analysis of Norwegian data presented to the 1993 Scientific Committee meeting showed that the NE Atlantic minke whales have been reduced to less than half of their original number - certainly to well below the IWC's protection level of 54%.

In 1992 the Scientific Committee accepted a Norwegian estimate that there were 86,736 minke whales currently in the N.E. Atlantic. Norway did not supply the data on which this estimate was based until after it was accepted. Once the data were examined by non Norwegian scientists, doubts about the accuracy of the population estimate began to emerge. Because of these concerns the IWC set up a special working group to closely examine the Norwegian estimate and in 1995 the group found that there were serious errors in the computer model used to calculate the population estimate. At the 1995 IWC meeting the entire Scientific Committee concluded that it had been wrong to accept the Norwegian estimate in 1992, that it no longer considered this estimate valid and that it was currently unable to provide an estimate for this population.

WHALERS CHEAT

In any case, there are no guarantees that Norway's whalers will respect quotas or other regulations. Violation of regulations and weak enforcement have plagued Norwegian operations. Norway never accepted application of the IWC's International Observer Scheme to its minke whaling operations. Recently published reports by the few whaling inspectors who were employed in the period 1980- 87 reveal widespread illicit activity in that period, including serious over-catching. One of these inspectors who reported a 25% overcatch and other violations on the vessel "Ulla" which he monitored in 1986, wrote: "The crew on the 'Ulla' is neither better nor worse than other whalers... they represent the Norwegian catcher mentality where there is not enough concern for the ecological balance in the sea. The commercial interests are put before consideration towards nature."

Cheating by whalers is not a thing of the past. During the 1994 hunt one ship, the 'Dag Senior", returning after having caught its full quota caught an extra whale on its way back to port. This was reported to the police by another ship that saw the incident and the crew was fined and the catch confiscated. The inspector on board claimed that he knew nothing about it because he had been asleep.

In October 1993, a shipment of whale meat bound for Japan via Korea, in violation of Norway's export ban on whale products, was seized in Oslo airport. It was in boxes marked as frozen prawns and had been cleared for shipment by customs; it was only when a box broke open that the airline staff realised that something was wrong.

UNCED

In the action program "Agenda 21" adopted at the UN Conference for Environment and Development, countries endorsed the principle that if living marine resources are to be managed and utilised it must be on the sustainable basis. Due to the unique problems affecting cetaceans UNCED noted that the responsible international bodies (the IWC in the case of minke whales) could set stricter regulations-including the prohibition of exploitation-if desired.

REVISED MANAGEMENT SCHEME

Norway alludes to the draft revised management scheme (RMS) adopted by the IWC at its 1992 meeting and asserts that this allows for the resumption of minke whaling in the N. E. Atlantic. This is not true. A scientific procedure for calculating catch limits was agreed but is was also agreed that this is only part of what is needed to complete the RMS. Not all of these elements have been completed or agreed. Furthermore, the Commission's insistence on them is not stalling or filibustering, as has been suggested. They are necessary requirements as the experience of the 'Ulla' shows. Norway as the only member of the IWC to vote against the 1992 resolution adopting the draft RMS.

The Scientific Committee has not calculated any quota for the N. E. Atlantic minke whales under the Revised Management Scheme. This is because the Commission has decided that the Committee should only calculate quotas when it is specifically asked to, and such a request has not yet been made. Whaling nations have a history of treating scientific recommendations as a starting point for a political process to obtain the quotas that they want while avoiding responsibilities such as inspection and public data scrutiny. The fact that Norway's population estimate was wrong underlines the wisdom of the Commission in refusing to be pushed into use of the RMS.

LARGE SCALE OF OPERATIONS

Norwegian spokespersons are quick to say that the vessels used average 60 gross register tons and to paint a picture of small ships operating out of isolated villages. In fact 12 of Norway's whalers weigh over 100 tons (the 'Ulla" was one of these) and the largest weighs 310 tons. Many Norwegian whalers act as mini- factories, some ranging many hundreds of miles from their home ports and staying at sea for weeks at time; catching whales, flensing them on board and refrigerating the products for eventual sale. By the mid 1980's, some of the richest whaling grounds were off Russia, not Norway. Norwegian officials maintain that the hunt is strictly for local consumption but in the 1995 season prices paid for whale blubber shot up 60 fold on the basis of rumours that the government would lift the export ban. The largest whale meat dealer in the Lofotens gave an interview in June 1995 in which he said that he had hundreds of tons of whale products ready to ship, that contracts were signed with Japanese buyers and that he was just waiting for the export ban to be relaxed.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Norway's whaling may use small ships but it is neither small scale nor traditional. It has depleted the population of minke whales of the N.E. Atlantic. The present hunt is intended as the forerunner of a much larger, export oriented industry. The Norwegian government should immediately announce that it is suspending all commercial whaling, withdrawing its objections to the moratorium on commercial whaling and to the protected stock classification and that it will abide by IWC decisions in the future.