Whale and Seal Fishing

It never crossed my mind as a kid, that my father could be wrong. He spoke with such conviction of the victory to come. And mother would nod in acceptance, adding her two cents of approval of the new system. I did not mind the uniforms, and it was fun to march like little soldiers. The sense of belonging, of achievement and something to strive for was so strong. We felt stronger by the day, and believed in every word. And father told me one day, looking up from the newspaper during brekfast; "I am so proud of you son, a prime soldier of Der Führer."

Just months later everything was turned up side down. We were the villains, but it took years to understand what we had done.

If there's one thing I am certain of, it is that knowledge is the key ingredient to making right decicions. Regularly I am debating with people about whale meat which I consider to be most delightful, and the fact that Norway hunt whales. The usual first comment I get goes in the lines of "Whales are a threatened species." And I'm always humored to correct that whales are not a species, but two sub orders containing around 40 species. Some threatened to near extinction, and some who's population is thriving. A blue-copy of this intro would be the start of a seal-fishing debate.

I guess we should get some facts down about Norwegian fishing policies.

• Only one species of whale is hunted, the Minke whale.
• Two species of seal are hunted for, Hooded Seal (which has not ben hunted for in 2007 or 2008 due to population uncertainties), and the Harp Seal.
• Each year quotas for hunting these species ar given based on scientific recommandations from the ICES and NAFO.
• Public inspectors must be onboard each seal catching ship, and all crew members must have gone through a course in the laws and regulations.
• There is now a need to increase seal hunting due to population growth.
• Norwegian seas are today of the richest in the world, and Norway remains one of the biggest and most successful fishing nations.

So what does this tell us? The seas of southern Europe are fished out, and Norway still manages to make a great income annualy without overfishing, they must be doing something right.

I could go into detail about fishing policies but that's not the point here. What brought me to this topic in the first place is a propsed EU resolution to ban all import of seal products. It is completely ridiculus and serves no purpose other then to harm the Norwegian fishing industry. The seal-fishing can today only be conducted through state funding, even though it is essential to keep the fragile balance in our seas.

Instead of "Save the seal" posters the enviromentalists need to wave "Save the sea" posters instead, and vote against this proposition.

Should anyone require further data:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp_Seal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale