Norway is breaking an international ban on the export of whale products to send eight tonnes of Minke whale meat and blubber to eager Icelandic diners.
Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993 despite the fact that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on all commercial whaling had been in effect since 1986. The political party in government in Norway at the time took the decision in order to stem the decline in its popularity with voters in northern Norway. It was able to do so because Norway lodged an objection to the IWC's moratorium decision in 1982 and so is not technically bound by it.
Twenty one major airlines [1], including British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, KLM and Sabena, have pledged to Greenpeace that they will not carry whale meat and blubber on their aircraft. All British airlines flying out of Oslo, Norway's principal airport, have joined the air blockade. The move comes during preparations by Norway to resume the export and sale of whale meat and blubber to Japan and two weeks before the International Whaling Commission meets in London.
Ignoring the wishes of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the international body which regulates whaling, the Fisheries Agency of Japan have sent a whaling fleet into the North Pacific to take a self allocated quota of 160 sperm, Bryde's and minke whales. This is the second expanded "scientific" hunt in the North Pacific since the IWC met in July 2000.
Greenpeace today called on the UK government to take strong diplomatic action against Norway, following their announcement yesterday that they intend to resume sales of whale blubber and meat to Japan.
The decision by Norway contravenes the international ban on trade in whale products agreed by CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species).
Many members of the public in the UK have written to the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Mori, to state their opposition to Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling. The Japanese Embassy has responded with a standard letter which attempts to justify the North Pacific hunt. The letter is is deliberately misleading.
