Noted Norwegian whaler hangs up his harpoon
From a statement we just issued:
The Norwegian fisheries newspaper, Fiskaren, reported today that Olav Olavsen, the captain of the well known whaling vessel Nybræna, said that he and his crew have decided to end whaling operations. Greenpeace has previously confronted the Nybræna at sea and disrupted its whaling operations for days.The retirement of the Nybræna from whaling is part of a general trend in Norwegian whaling. Over 10 percent of the fleet dropped out of whaling between 2003 and 2007 and the value of whaling dropped from USD 2.9 million last year to USD 2.5 million this year, a decrease of 13 percent. The value of whaling in Norway is now less than 0.5 percent of the USD 800 million value of fishing.
Norway's whaling had to be ended early this year, as in previous years, because there is virtually no market for whale meat in Norway or anywhere else. The whalers managed to catch only half their quota.
We are pleased that Mr. Olavsen and his crew have decided to end whaling. We wish them good luck and sustainable fishing. Mr Olavsen has for decades been a well-known figure in the whaling community in Norway; we call on the remaining whalers to follow his lead now and end whaling for good.
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Comments
Here are two articles from Fiskaren.
My Norwegian is rusty, but to me it seems he quit because he was fed up with the regulations, and partly because of the fine for his illegal move. Seems he didn't exactly become a born again whale lover..
Posted by: Pepijn | November 7, 2008 7:38 PM