Whaling overload in Norway

Fishing officials in some parts of northern Norway have suspended their annual minke whale hunt because the quantity of the catch has exceeded the processing plants’ ability to handle it.

The Norwegian newspaper, Aftenposten, reports whaling stations in these areas simply can’t handle any more whales. One facility on the Lofoten Islands was destroyed by a suspicious fire last year and remains out of operation.

Officials say that 306 minke whales already have been caught this season, nearly half the total quota of 671.

Most of the whales have been speared in the most northerly areas of the whaling grounds.

Whaler Harald Dahl attributed the good catch to better weather in the Barents Sea this year.

“But many whalers also reported that they’re seeing a lot of whales,” Dahl said. “Some boats are bringing in five or six whales a day. The catch is simply so good that they can’t keep up.”