Norway to begin whale meat export to Faroe Islands

March 26, 2003

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NORWAY: March 26, 2003

OSLO - Norway, the only nation that hunts whales commercially, gave the

green light this week for whale meat exports to Denmark's Faroe Islands,

expanding trade despite an international ban.

Norwegian whalers, who have government permission to kill 711 minke whales

this year, started exporting whale products to Iceland last year and hope to

expand into the huge Japanese market.

" The Faroes have expressed interest in importing whale meat and we have

given approval for exports, " Director General Magnor Nerheim at Norway's

Fishery Ministry told Reuters.

Norway - like Iceland, Japan and Peru - says it holds a formal reservation

from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES),

which bars buying and selling whale products because of concern for the

survival of the world's biggest mammals.

Nerheim said the Faroe Islands, which have had home rule under the Danish

crown since 1949, were also exempt from the ban.

" With a population of only 47,000, the Faroes market is obviously limited.

But it's a truly whale-loving population, " said pro-whaling lobby group High

North Alliance in a statement.

Norway, with a long history of whaling, resumed commercial hunting of minke

whale in 1993, arguing their numbers are far from extinction levels and they

damage fish stocks.

It resumed whale meat trade last year for the first time in 14 years, saying

world opinion would not curb its independence.

" This is a step in the right direction, " Rune Froevik of the High North

Alliance told Reuters. " We are expanding exports to a new market and we are

hoping Japan will be next on the list. "

Norwegian whalers hope to send hundreds of tonnes of whale blubber

stockpiled in freezers to Japan, where it is a delicacy. Norwegians eat only

the whale meat, not the creamy blubber.

The fishery ministry said its minister would join the prime minister on a

trip to Japan in May, and whale product trading was expected to be a key

issue on the agenda.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

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