Verden

Having A Whale of A Time in Norway

English version: Norwegian whale hunting is nothing to be ashamed of. And worth fighting for.

Norwegian whale hunting is nothing to be ashamed of. And worth fighting for, according to Dagsavisen's Hege Ulstein. PHOTO: NTB SCANPIX
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A full war in the North Atlantic is imminent. This summer Paul Watson and his companions will do everything in their power to stop hunting of the common minke whale. Norwegian whalers will face a massive propaganda effort and potentially hazardous actions at sea. The Sea Shepherd organization is on its way with three ships. They are known to act in a manner in which one might question whether they place a higher priority on the life of whales than on humans.

Ships from Sea Sheperd have rammed into the sides of whaling ships in Japan. Off the Norwegian coast they have on previous occasions intentionally collided with the coast guard.

When the organization again warns of a fight in our waters, it’s to be expected that the police and coast guard will protect the Norwegian whalers. But the rest of us can do our bit to defend their livelihood at the other end of this fight: the propaganda war.

Anti-whaling protestors claim that Norwegian whalers are killing an endangered species. It’s simply not the case. The two species of common minke whale hunted by Norwegian whalers comprise a population of well over 100,000. The population is carefully measured and closely observed and a quota of a maximum of 1,286 whales per year has been set. To claim that the less than 20 Norwegian whaling ships represent any form of threat to the species is about as silly as catching seagulls with a harpoon.

One species of whale that is endangered is the blue whale. The largest animal ever in existence, irrespective of time and place. But nobody is hunting it. It’s protected, and for very good reason. But the blue whale is threatened - by climate change. Researchers report that the animals are so undernourished that they can see their backbone clearly through their skin. These enormous mammals have moved to new areas in search for food. Friends of the whale would be wise to find other scapegoats than Norwegian whalers.

Another often repeated claim is that whale hunting involves animal cruelty. And not only that, but that it is cruelty of a very intelligent animal that sings so beautifully. It’s possible that the minke whale is more intelligent than other animals humans eat, such as cow or pig, but it’s not very likely. But there’s little doubt that the minke whale’s brain weighs considerably more than Paul Watson’s.

Norwegian version: Hvalkampen

The slaughter of the minke whale is in fact far more humane than the butchering of farm animals. To ensure a rapid death, Norwegian whalers only use a modern grenade harpoon. While chickens stand tightly bunched for the mere 30 days of their short lives before being stuffed in crates and transported for hours and finally gassed and then slaughtered by an automatic chopper, whales swim freely for years and die quickly before they know what has hit them.

The animals we otherwise eat are fed a concentrated animal feed imported from Brazil. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been found in chicken; e.coli in lamb and mutton; and MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) in pork. While Norwegian meat has until now been deemed fairly safe, there is an inherent risk in consuming industrial meat. Meat from the minke whale, on the other hand, is completely clean and carries no such risk. It comes from an animal that has never been subjected to antibiotics or animal feed. All in all, whale meat is so superior that if one were to eat just one kind of meat, whale is the obvious choice.

Norway has gone to great effort to safeguard our small catch of minke whales. Internationally we have been subjected to abuse and threats of boycott. And the fight against whaling has given rise to a number of silly antics, such as enrollment of the seafaring and coastal nation of Switzerland in the IWC (International Whaling Commission), merely to stir up trouble for us and other whaling nations. It resulted in an international ban on commercial whaling. About as silly as the cuckoo clock.

Now that Sea Sheperd has again targeted Norwegian whaling, Norwegian consumers should respond with a massive mobilization. Unlike the minke whale, the few remaining whalers are in fact endangered. They never catch their full quota. Not because there’s a shortage of whales but because people don’t buy enough of the product they have to sell. A surge in whale meat consumption would be a clear response to Watson’s propaganda. It would also be a great act of solidarity with the country’s whalers.

And fear not, whale meat is no longer how many remember it from the 1970s. It’s not a case of tough dry slabs of meat with more than a hint of cod liver oil. Minke whale is an exclusive delicacy one can barely find anywhere else in the world. You can eat it raw, as a carpaccio, without concern for tummy trouble or fear of poisoning. Or you can throw it on the barbecue. Rub it in with salt, pepper and spices. And let me rub this in: eating whale meat is safe, environmentally friendly, sustainable, animal friendly, inexpensive, really tasty, and it’s a clear message that we won’t be cowered by a group of activists who want to harass an endangered profession. Bon appétit!

Hege Ulstein, Dagsavisen, Norway

Translation by: Scott Remborg

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