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Whaling in Norway

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Norwegian Minke Whale Quotas (blue line, 1994–2006) and Catches (red line, 1946–2005) in Numbers (from official Norwegian statistics).

Whaling in Norway involves the hunting of the Minke whale for the purpose of using the whale meat for human consumption, generally in Northern Norway. This hunting has occurred since the early 20th Century,[1] and some still continue the practice in the modern day.[2]

History

Norwegians caught whales off the coast of Tromsø 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. However, the Norse sagas, and other ancient documents, provide few details on Norwegian whaling. The sagas recount some disputes between families over whale carcasses but do not describe any organized whale fishery in Norway.[3]

Spear-drift whaling was practiced in the North Atlantic as early as the 12th century. In open boats, hunters would strike a whale, using a marked spear, with the intent of later locating the beached carcass to claim a rightful share.[4]

Spitsbergen

From the late 16th century through the 18th century, Basque whalers hunted as far north as Spitsbergen and Bear Island, to include participation in Dutch and British whaling expeditions there. Competition between nations led to over-exploitation of whale stocks (and armed naval conflict in 1615, war from 1651-1654). By the middle of the 17th century other European nations also hunted whale in these lucrative waters.[5]

The whales were primarily hunted to render oil from the blubber for production of soap, paint, varnish, and more -- including oil for illumination. 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. 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.[5]

The Dutch used Jan Mayen Island as a base for whaling and also established a semi-permanent shore station which became the village of Smeerenburg. Norwegian ships were also sent to Spitsbergen during the 18th century.[6]

Modern Whaling

New techniques and technologies, developed in the mid 19th century, revolutionized the whaling industry and Norway's prominence as a whaling nation.

In 1865, Americans, Thomas Welcome Roys and C. A. Lilliendahl, tested their experimental rocket harpoon design and set up a shore station in Seydisfjördur, Iceland. However, a slump in oil prices after the American Civil War forced their endeavor into bankruptcy in 1867.[7] Norwegian, Svend Foyn, also studied the American method in Iceland.[8]

Svend Foyn, was born in Tønsberg in 1809. His father was lost at sea when he was only four. Raised by his mother, Foyn later came to be considered the 'Father of modern whaling'.[7] His own harpoon design proved to be much more effective than the American experiment.

There were many others whose ideas predated Foyn's method. In 1867, a Danish fireworks manufacturer, Gaetano Amici, patented a canon 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. Norwegian, Jacob Nicolai Walsøe experimented with an explosive tipped projectile design. Another Norwegian, Arent Christian Dahl, also experimented with explosive harpoons from 1857-1860.[8]

In 1863, Foyn contracted the building of his first whaling ship -- a steam powered ship (also with sails) that had seven whaling canons -- the Spes et Fides (Hope and Faith). The ship was also fitted with check boards to increase the drag on harpooned whales. He also incorporated a 'compensator' or 'accumulator' from the Roys system -- a series of rollers and springs installed below deck -- to help the thick whale line, attached to the harpoon, to take up some of the shock without breaking.[7]

Svend Foyn, after years of experiments and expeditions, patented the modern whaling harpoon in 1870, and his basic design 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 canons were muzzle-loaded with special padding and also used a unique form of gun powder. The canons were later replaced with safer breech-loading types.[7][8]

"God had let the whale inhabit [these waters] for the benefit and blessing of mankind, and consequently I considered it my vocation to promote these fisheries." [7]


Svend Foyn

In 1864, Foyn took his first whaling ship to Finnmark 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 off Norway's shores with new and deadly efficiency. By the 1880s, there were twenty whaling companies operating out of Norway.[7]

Finnmark

Foyn, while enjoying a ten-year whaling monopoly (1873-1883), granted by the Norwegian government to protect the new opportunity and technology from German competitors, moved his whaling operation from Tønsberg, to Vadsø. In spite of frequent disputes between the whalers and the people of Vadsø (including fishermen who blamed the whalers for poor catches), Foyn overcame oil production issues and enjoyed great success. He also established guano factories rather than let the stripped whale carcasses go to waste.[7][8]

Regardless of the monopoly, in 1876, some Norwegian citizens formed another whaling company and hunted whales from a site at the Varanger fjord (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 Sanefjord. 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 1885-86.[7][8]

Small boat whalers also hunted bottlenose whales in large numbers. By 1890, up to seventy rowing boats claimed about 3,000 of the 30ft whales annually.[7]

Svend Foyn died in 1894 at the age of eighty-five.

Iceland

In 1883, Norway was granted permission by the Icelandic government to build whaling stations in Iceland; and when the nearby whaling grounds were depleted, Norwegian whalers moved their activities to the southern Atlantic Ocean, where whales were still abundant and the operations more lucrative.[9]

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 polarising the debate.[10]

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).[11][12]

Current practice

Only Minke whaling is permitted, from a population of 107,000 animals in the North East Atlantic and is argued by proponents and government officials to be sustainable.[13] Still, it has been frequently criticized by the international community, environmentalists and animal rights groups as Norway, along with Iceland and Japan, is one of few countries that still allows whaling.

Norway registered an objection to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) commercial whaling moratorium, and is thus not bound by it.[14] 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 and Iceland. It has been attempting to export to Japan for several years and this was realized in 2009.[15]

In May 2004, the Norwegian Parliament passed a resolution to considerably increase the number of Minkes hunted each year. The Ministry of Fisheries also initiated a satellite tracking programme of various whale species to monitor migration patterns and diving behaviour. The tagging research program has been under way since 1999.[16]

Since 2006, when the Norwegian whaling quota was increased by 30%, Norwegian whalers have been allowed to hunt a quota of 1,052 Minke whales a year. Since the 1993 hunt resumption the Norwegian quota has rarely been fully met.[13]

Year Quota Catch
1994 319 280
1995 232 218
1996 425 388
1997 580 503
1998 671 625
1999 753 591
2000 655 487
2001 549 550
2002 671 634
2003 711 646
2004 670 541
2005 797 639
2006 1052 546
2007 1052 592
2008 885 484

Controversy

Opposition

Animal rights, environmental and anti-whaling groups have commented that given Norway's economic position it is paradoxical that this is one of a very small number of countries actively engaged in, and favouring the continuation of, commercial whaling. This is despite the argued negligible contribution that whaling makes to the economy, and despite opposition from around the world.[17]

According to documents released by WikiLeaks, US president Barack Obama, 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.[18]

Support

Pro-whaling people 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 operations, which they see as considerably more harmful than whaling. Many supporters of whaling agree that its macroeconomic importance is negligible, but hold that the livelihood of individuals and small firms depend on it and that sustainable development depends on human harvesting of all non-endangered species,[19] and that it is an important part of culture in coastal areas[citation needed]. Arne Kalland argues [20] that international pressure against whaling is a form of cultural imperialism imposed on Norway. Norway's whaling today is limited to the Minke whale, which are killed using explosive penthrite grenade harpoons, which also accounts for more than 90% of the catch in Norwegian waters since the 1920s.

While not actively supporting whaling, several Norwegian environmental groups have stated that they oppose extreme measures, specifically sabotage, against the whaling industry and have clarified that they consider Norwegian whaling to be sustainable given current populations of minke whale.[21]

Although non-endangered, Minke whales are protected; their commercial whaling is illegal under the IWC global moratorium of whaling, and illegally traded Minke whale meat is banned under CITES conservation laws[citation needed]. However, 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.[14]

References

  1. ^ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/norwegian-whaling/
  2. ^ Norway, Embassy in Canada: Norwegian minke whaling
  3. ^ Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9781558216969.
  4. ^ Kraus, Scott D.; Rolland, Rosalind (2007). The urban whale: North Atlantic right whales at the crossroads. Harvard University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780674023277.
  5. ^ a b Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 47–60. ISBN 9781558216969.
  6. ^ Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 62–66. ISBN 9781558216969.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 255–265. ISBN 9781558216969.
  8. ^ a b c d e Tonnessen, Johan; Johnsen, Arne (1982). The history of modern whaling. University of California Press. pp. 16–36. ISBN 9780520039735.
  9. ^ Húsavík Whale Museum, Iceland: History of Whaling.
  10. ^ Predicting a silent death for Norwegian whaling, article in Aftenposten, January 12, 2011.
  11. ^ http://iwcoffice.org/conservation/welfare.htm
  12. ^ http://iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/IWC63docs/63-WKM&AWI6.pdf
  13. ^ a b Aftenposten Newspaper: Whaling quota draws fire
  14. ^ a b http://iwcoffice.org/commission/schedule.htm
  15. ^ "政府、ノルウェー鯨肉も輸入承認　20年ぶり、ミンク5・6トン". 47 NEWS (in Japanese). Japan: Kyodo News. 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Norway. Progress report on cetacean research, January 2001 to December 2001, with statistical data for the calendar year 2001" (PDF). International Whaling Commission. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
  17. ^ "Norway set to kill more whales". World Society for the Protection of Animals. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
  18. ^ Used Obama visit to criticise Norwegian whaling, article in Aftenposten, January 12, 2011.
  19. ^ http://www.iucnredlist.org/search
  20. ^ 2009 Unveiling the Whale. Discourses on Whales and Whaling. Oxford/New York: Berghahn Books, 253 pp.
  21. ^ Sabotasje mot hvalskute i Svolvær, article in Dagsavisen, April 3, 2010.
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