Norway wraps up whaling season

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

On Aug. 31, the Norwegian whaling season ends, although whalers stored away their harpoons several weeks ago after landing only 543 minke whales out of a quota of 670.

Norway is the only country in the world to permit commercial whaling and officials want even higher quotas.

“We wish to increase the quota of catches to levels that remain sustainable,” Jorhill Andreassen from the Norwegian fisheries department said in May, following a vote by Norwegian members of parliament calling for an increase in whaling.

The quota may rise to 745 next year, a number the government says is acceptable to the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee.