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Demand for whale meat in Norway rising after years of decline | Whales | The Guardian — theguardian.com

Demand for whale meat in Norway is rising after years of decline, although activists have warned the loosening of regulations could damage the welfare of the animals.Norway remains one of only three countries to publicly allow commercial whaling, along with Japan and Iceland. Much of the catch is sent to Japan, where demand is high, but for the first time in years businesses have reported increased interest in eating whale meat domestically.Four hundred and eighty-four minke whales have been killed so far this year, which is fewer than half the annual quota of 1,278. Last year’s total of 429 whales caught was the lowest in decades.The fleet has also been in decline, with only 12 vessels participating in this year’s hunt, down from 34 in 2004.However, in an attempt to expand the whaling fleet, the Norwegian government eased the requirements for participation in the hunt for minke whales this year.Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s fishing minister, said: “It is very positive that we are witnessing an increase in both catches and demand for products this year.“The amendments are part of a general effort to have timely and effective regulations in the Norwegian fisheries regulations. Unnecessary barriers to the participation in whaling activity were thus removed.”Conservationists have long been critical of Norway’s whaling tradition. Kate O’Connell, a marine animal consultant at the Animal Welfare Institute, said the looser regulations raised concerns for the wellbeing of the whales being killed.“Requiring that only one person on board a whaling vessel have whaling experience, and even then only in one of the previous six years, is woefully insufficient to ensure an instantaneous death for whales,” she said.Ingebrigtsen said “the changes have been made without compromising the strict focus on animal welfare and sustainability in whaling”.While whale meat is not a significant part of the Norwegian diet, it remains a popular source of meat in some regions.Hopen Fisk, a company based in the northern Lofoten region, has reported increased interest in whale meat and sold out of its yearly stock by July.Roy Størkersen, the office manager at Hopen Fisk, said he believed the recent rise could be linked to an increased interest in local cuisine and consumers growing tired of industrially produced meat such as beef and pork.Rising interest for Norwegian whale meat has also occurred internationally. Last year 200 metric tonnes of whale meat was exported to Japan, worth about 13m kroner (£1.1m)A spokesperson from Japan’s Fisheries Agency said: “Although Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019, it seems that the interest in whale meat imported from Norway has not decreased. Rather we consider that import from Norway and Iceland will continue to meet increasing demands at its domestic market in Japan.”Commercial whaling was banned worldwide more than 30 years ago. However, Norway formally objected to the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) moratorium in 1986, meaning it is not formally bound by it.There are more than 100,000 minke whales in the wild, and they are not considered an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, activists have urged the remaining whaling countries to halt the practice.O’Connell said: “Rather than seeking to loosen regulations in order to expand the whaling fleet, we believe that Norway should acknowledge that whaling is no longer a necessary industry, and refrain from issuing quotas in defiance of the IWC commercial whaling moratorium.”

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