OSLO, Norway (16 Jan 2001) -- Norway has decided to lift its ban on the export of whale meat and products. Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993 despite worldwide protests but barred exports because it feared an international backlash. Experts estimate that Norway has stockpiled at least 800 tons of frozen whale blubber worth millions and millions of dollars. Norwegians eat whale meat but not the blubber, which is considered a delicacy in Japan where Norway's decision was greeted with cheers. Whaling officials in Norway called the decision a "triumph of common sense" and said the time was right to normalize whale hunting. Environmentalists fear the decision will lead to higher whale quotas and illegal hunting because poached meat could be sold under the cover of Norwegian exports. | |
Norway's whaling industry was granted a quota of 549 minke whales for 2001, down from 655 last year and 753 in 1999. About 2,000 were killed annually in the early 1980s, before the ban. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
