Speak Out Against Norwegian Whaling Dear John,
The 2021 Norwegian whaling season was the deadliest in five years, with 575 minke whales killed. Despite this, Norway has seen a continuous drop in domestic demand for whale meat for several years, and a public opinion poll commissioned by AWI and others in September 2021 found that only 2 percent of Norwegians polled--and no one under the age of 35--admitted to eating whale meat "often," down from 4 percent in a 2019 survey.
In an attempt to keep its flagging industry alive, Norway exports whale meat to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, and is sending increasing quantities of whale meat and blubber to Japan. Norwegian whalers have admitted to dumping whale meat, blubber, and bones overboard, and documents uncovered by AWI prove that whale meat is even sold for dog food.
Whaling is an inherently inhumane industry. Grenade-tipped harpoons are fired from guns mounted on moving vessels, and whales may suffer for prolonged periods--studies show that 18 percent of whales do not die or fall unconscious right away. In one reported case, a whale took more than 20 minutes to die.
Additionally, many of the whales targeted by Norwegian whalers are pregnant females, something that cannot be justified from an animal welfare or conservation perspective.
Whaling is also an unnecessary industry that yields almost no economic benefit. More than half of the respondents in the 2021 opinion survey want areas important for ecotourism closed to whaling. Given Norway's amazing vistas and the variety of whales in its waters, whale-watch tourism in Norway offers a far more financially and ecologically viable alternative. What You Can Do
Write to Anniken Huitfeldt, Norway's new minister of foreign affairs, voicing your opposition to her country's continued killing of minke whales and asking her to support responsible whale watching instead. You can send a politely worded letter to the minister via AWI's Compassion Index.
Please share our eAlert with family, friends, and co-workers, and encourage them to write a letter, too.
As always, thank you very much for your help!
Sincerely,
Cathy Liss President
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Photo by N. Seeliger
Animal Welfare Institute 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003
The Animal Welfare Institute is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. We seek better treatment of animals everywhere: in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild. |
