Date: Fri, 25 Jul, 1997
Norway whaling season ends, quota not fulfilled

OSLO, (Reuter) - Norway's controversial whaling season ended on Friday with this year's catch falling short of the government quota by 77 whales, officials said.

The quota was 580 minke whales, but only 503 were harpooned because the hunt was hampered by bad weather, Rannveig Boethun, an official of the Directorate of Fisheries in Bergen, said.
"Thirtyone whale-hunter boats took part, and they have now all returned to port," Boethun told Reuters. "The season is over."

The annual season is between May and July, with each boat allowed to hunt for six weeks. This year whales were killed mostly in the Barents Sea off northern Norway and the North Sea.

Norway's whale hunters have fallen short of their quota every year since resuming commercial catches of minke whales in 1993 in defiance of a global moratorium by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
"There are enough minke whales in the sea, but the hunt has to do with the weather and the wind," Boethun said.

The hunt, which has deep roots in Norwegian tradition, requires calm waters for whalers to detect minke whales, which surface to breathe for only around four seconds before diving.

Norwegian fisheries authorities say the northeast Atlantic minke whale stock is growing and that the species can safely be hunted without any risk of extinction.

In London, police on Thursday removed a banner place outside the Norwegian embassy to protest against the hunt.

The environmental group Greenpeace reiterated its opposition to all commercial whaling.
"There is a legimate scientific debate from which comes the evidence that unchecked hunt will definitely endanger the whale population. This is why we oppose any human activities which harm or threaten the health and habitat of whale populations," a Greenpeace statement said.

"Personally I am satisfied with the result of this year's hunt," said Oeyvind Rasmussen, an expert at the Fisheries Ministry. "We are very concerned that the hunt is commercially viable, that people buy the meat."

Norway honours a CITES ban on the export of whalemeat.

Harald Dahl, a spokesman for the Norwegian fisheries sales administration in Svolvaer, said this year's catch boiled down to 730 tonnes of dark blue-red whale meat with a value of 22 million crowns ($2.9 million) to the hunters.

In Oslo, whale meat costs up to 150 crowns ($20) per kg.



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