Whales seem to be off the menu in Norway. The country will not fill its whale-hunting quota this year, fuelling claims by environmentalists that there is no longer a demand for the meat.
Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993 and is the only country to do so, but fishermen have so far caught fewer than half of the 1052 whales they are allocated. The season ends on 31 August.
Although the government blames bad weather and high fuel prices for the low catch, environmentalists say fewer whales have been caught this year because demand has fallen, and say the industry should no longer be supported. “The whale meat is eaten in high latitudes by small populations, so the government hasn’t been pushing a drive to sell it,” says Claire Bass of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
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Japan’s whaling fleet, meanwhile, returned home this week with over 2000 tonnes of whale meat. The handful of animals the IWC allows for “research” purposes has turned into 1500 a year, despite demand also decreasing in Japan. “There’s no scientific proof that stocks are high enough for any whale hunts to be sustainable,” Bass says.
