Norway's hotly protested whaling season opens with quota of 797 minke whales
02:49 PM EDT Apr 29 OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway's whaling season opened Monday for the 13th straight year, with hunters on about 30 boats preparing to stalk and harpoon 797 minke whales by the end of August. The quota, up from 670 in 2004, is the largest set by the Norwegian government since the hunts resumed in 1993. Norway, the only country to allow commercial whaling, is not bound by a ban imposed by the International Whaling Commission because the group's rules allow members to reject decisions they oppose. Japan and Iceland conduct research hunts allowed by the commission. The whaling commission stopped hunts for profit because some types of whales were endangered. In the 1990s, the Norwegian whaling season became a battleground between whalers and activists. Whaling boats were sabotaged, pursued through the oceans and even boarded by protesters, some repelled by force. "Now all that is over. It's quiet," said Per Olav Rolandsen of the Norwegian Fish Sales Association. The association, based at the centre of the Norwegian whaling industry on the Lofoten Islands of the Arctic, closely monitors the hunt. Rolandsen said it was not clear when the first boats would leave port. They usually leave quietly, fearing a resurgence of protests. Norway claims minke, the smallest of the baleen whales at up to nine metres, are plentiful along its coast, can sustain a hunt and provide essential income to many coastal communities. Greenpeace activist Truls Gulowsen, currently aboard the group's ship Esperanza in the Lofotens, said increased whaling isn't a solution for problems along the coast. "Whaling takes the focus away from the real threats to the coast," said Gulowsen, citing overfishing and the risk of oil industry pollution. For the first time since the hunts resumed, the whaling boats - usually small trawlers that fish the rest of the year - will sail without a government inspector aboard to monitor that the kills with explosive-tipped harpoons are humane. Halvard Johansen of the Norwegian fisheries directorate said this year boats will have sensors aboard to record hunt details, such as the number of harpoons fired from a cannon and the number of whales butchered. Norwegians eat the red meat of whales, mainly as steaks but also as hamburgers and sausages.
© The Canadian Press, 2005
Norway's whaling season started on Monday with the highest quota in over a decade. Fishermen are entitled to harpoon up to 797 whales before the end of the season on August 31st.

Last years quota of 670 was raised this year despite fishermen failing to reach their quota last year. Environmental activists from groups such as Greenpeace have denounced the increase. Speaking to the Associated Press, one activist said "Increased whaling is no solution for the problems along the coast." However despite international opposition, it is unlikely Norway will end whaling anytime soon.

Norway is the only country in the world to allow commercial whaling. Iceland and Japan do so solely on a research basis. Whale meat is used as steaks and in hamburgers and sausages in Norway. The number of whales caught by Norway has steadily increased since resumption of whaling in 1993, with the 226 caught that year rising to over 500 in 1997 and 670 in 2003.

The economic argument is that whaling provides employment and economic stimulant for fishery, logistic, restaurant and other related industries in developed countries. However many countries continue to argue that, if properly developed, whale-watching could be far more profitable and create far more jobs than whale killing.