Norway keeps whaling quota, draws ire
Fri Feb 8, 2008 1:59pm EST
By Wojciech Moskwa
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway has set a commercial whaling quota of 1,052 minke whales in 2008, unchanged from last year, drawing criticism from environmental groups pressuring Oslo to join the international community and call off its hunts.
Norway is the only country to hunt the giant mammal commercially despite a two-decade-old moratorium by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Iceland stopped in 2007, citing a lack of markets for whale meat.
Last year Norway harpooned 597 minke whales, or 57 percent of its quota, and its kills have remained below quota ceilings since 2001, official figures show.
"We set quotas not according to what is likely to be caught but what is sustainable," Halvard Johansen, director at Norway's Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Ministry, told Reuters on Friday.
The ministry said in a statement that it sets quotas "conservatively," ensuring "complete safety in regard to conserving minke whale stock."
Japan also catches hundreds of minkes each year but says it is for scientific purposes. A European Union official on Friday however said photographs released by Australia of whales being killed illustrated the reality of Japanese hunting.
The photos showed an adult minke whale and her calf being towed up the rear ramp of a Japanese factory processing ship in Antarctic waters.
Norway opens whale-hunting seasonWhaling vessels have left Norway for the Barents Sea to open this year's whale-hunting season, defying an international moratorium and protests. The Norwegian government has set a quota of 670 minke whales for the season, which runs until 31 August.
The Scandinavian nation is the only country in the world that authorises whaling for commercial purposes.
Iceland and Japan are the only other nations to fish whales, though they claim to do so for scientific reasons.
Grenade-tipped harpoons
Controversy has also focused on the manner in which the whales are killed.
Environmentalists say the grenade-tipped harpoons that explode inside the beast are unnecessarily cruel.
Whalers argue it is one of the quickest methods for killing a whale.
The first whaling vessels left Norway to hunt in the North Sea last week. But the main catches are made in the area of the North Atlantic known as the Barents Sea. BBC News
I love your photos. Every each of them travelled me to amazing and colorful places. It is a real beautiful photograph , which makes me feel the need to see that place to feel its energy . – Penelope –
HOLA, SOY MEXICANA Y ME GUSTARIA FELICITAR AL FOTOGRAFO QUE CAPTO ESA AURORA BOREAL EN SU MEJOR ESPLENDOR.
OBVIAMENTE EN MI PAIS JAMAS VEREMOS ALGO ASI, PERO ME IMAGINO QUE HA DE SER UNA BENDICION DE DIOS ESTAR FRENTE A UN ESPECTACULO DE ESA MAGNITUD.
I am certain that this incredible photo deserves to be seen worldwide, but as WorldInPictures is a commercial profit making organisation, is it fair that they can hijack this photo without recompense??
really remarkable pic and annotation to this by AXOTA, so I copy here: "I am certain that this incredible photo deserves to be seen worldwide, but as WorldInPictures is a commercial profit making organisation, is it fair that they can hijack this photo without recompense??
Bonsoir,
bravo pour cette superbe photo, je rêve depuis toujours d'avoir la chance de voir une aurore boréale comme celle-ci; en avril prochain je vais de Bergen au cap nord, peut-être aurai-je le plaisir et la chance d'en voir une, même une toute petite???.....
OOOOOHHHH!!!!!, espectacular, uno de mis sueños es poder visitar algún día estos lugares y poder comtemplar estas maravillas de la naturaleza.
Enhorabuena. un saludo.
Comments
Richard Ryer, on February 16, 2007, said:
Outstanding. Very nice. Keep them coming.
karisve, on February 17, 2007, said:
wow! so beautyful! congratulations a excellent pic!
rosina lamberti, on March 2, 2007, said:
so beautiful
S.M Tunli - www.tunliweb.no, on April 14, 2007, said:
Fantastisk bilde av nordlyset! Har sett nordlys noen ganger selv men aldri så sterkt.
Hilsen S.M. Tunli , TUNLIWEB - fra Bergen
Mariví Jiménez, on May 22, 2007, said:
¡¡¡Maravillosa foto¡¡¡¡
Foxx Trotter, on July 24, 2007, said:
Beautiful photo. It's too bad that I live well far south and not able to see things such as these.
glorieta, on August 5, 2007, said:
alucinante!!!!!!
steandeb, on August 12, 2007, said:
FANTASTIC KJETIL. YOU ARE LUCKY TO LIVE IN SUCH A PLACE.
(Mohammad Ihab Helal) محمد إيهاب هلال, on August 17, 2007, said:
Beautiful picture with an amazing mixture of colors!
I wonder what it is, I have never seen something like this before.I want also to ask you how it feels not to see sunlight for almost half the year.
Thanks for sharing, Greeting from Egypt.
Bjørn Fransgjerde, on August 25, 2007, said:
Hei Kjetil. Kjempeflott bilde med et spennende og flott nordlys. Flot fanget dette.
stefan*, on August 27, 2007, said:
Great! Such a picture is still missing to me in my collection!
mickys, on September 10, 2007, said:
SPETTACOLARE!!!WONDERFULL!!
odrakiR, on October 6, 2007, said:
¡Otra extraordinaria toma!
© Marco De Candido, on October 14, 2007, said:
What a show! Great picture, congratulation. Hi, Marco
T NL, on October 14, 2007, said:
Very cool!
Greets, T NL
© markusino, on October 25, 2007, said:
Kjetil, beautiful northern lights. It's something amazing for people who live far away from north. How often you can see scenery like this?
Best regards, Marek, Slovakia.
© Massimo De Candido, on November 12, 2007, said:
Ciao, che spettacolo!!! L'aurora boreale con i suoi colori e sfumature catturati in questo splendido scatto. Complimenti Kjetil
Andrey Larin, on November 19, 2007, said:
Круто
OB-LA-DI-OB-LA-DA, on December 7, 2007, said:
!espectacular!
hjt558, on December 22, 2007, said:
wow love allyour photos really great stuff
0_-, on January 2, 2008, said:
Norway
Josh Lewis, on January 2, 2008, said:
Such lovely colors! What a wonderful sight, Cheers Josh Lewis
lyapa, on February 5, 2008, said:
THANK YOU...
Atlas11, on February 11, 2008, said:
Norway keeps whaling quota, draws ire Fri Feb 8, 2008 1:59pm EST By Wojciech Moskwa
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway has set a commercial whaling quota of 1,052 minke whales in 2008, unchanged from last year, drawing criticism from environmental groups pressuring Oslo to join the international community and call off its hunts.
Norway is the only country to hunt the giant mammal commercially despite a two-decade-old moratorium by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Iceland stopped in 2007, citing a lack of markets for whale meat.
Last year Norway harpooned 597 minke whales, or 57 percent of its quota, and its kills have remained below quota ceilings since 2001, official figures show.
"We set quotas not according to what is likely to be caught but what is sustainable," Halvard Johansen, director at Norway's Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Ministry, told Reuters on Friday.
The ministry said in a statement that it sets quotas "conservatively," ensuring "complete safety in regard to conserving minke whale stock."
Japan also catches hundreds of minkes each year but says it is for scientific purposes. A European Union official on Friday however said photographs released by Australia of whales being killed illustrated the reality of Japanese hunting.
The photos showed an adult minke whale and her calf being towed up the rear ramp of a Japanese factory processing ship in Antarctic waters. Norway opens whale-hunting seasonWhaling vessels have left Norway for the Barents Sea to open this year's whale-hunting season, defying an international moratorium and protests. The Norwegian government has set a quota of 670 minke whales for the season, which runs until 31 August.
The Scandinavian nation is the only country in the world that authorises whaling for commercial purposes.
Iceland and Japan are the only other nations to fish whales, though they claim to do so for scientific reasons.
Grenade-tipped harpoons
Controversy has also focused on the manner in which the whales are killed.
Environmentalists say the grenade-tipped harpoons that explode inside the beast are unnecessarily cruel.
Whalers argue it is one of the quickest methods for killing a whale.
The first whaling vessels left Norway to hunt in the North Sea last week. But the main catches are made in the area of the North Atlantic known as the Barents Sea. BBC News
G Kesmev, on March 17, 2008, said:
Unbelievable natural spectacle! Greetings from Bulgaria.
Witxe, on April 20, 2008, said:
one of my favourites I envy you great foto
michel19481, on May 2, 2008, said:
WOW!! the perfect shot! beautiful colors, greetings from Thailand Michel.(star)
Vangelis Doutsios, E.T.C., on May 23, 2008, said:
I love your photos. Every each of them travelled me to amazing and colorful places. It is a real beautiful photograph , which makes me feel the need to see that place to feel its energy . – Penelope –
hamzars, on May 29, 2008, said:
Amazing!!
payam195r, on May 31, 2008, said:
Oh ... REALLY BEAUTIFUL
PAYAM
vratsagirl, on June 22, 2008, said:
stunning capture!!
Karla Liga, on June 25, 2008, said:
HOLA, SOY MEXICANA Y ME GUSTARIA FELICITAR AL FOTOGRAFO QUE CAPTO ESA AURORA BOREAL EN SU MEJOR ESPLENDOR. OBVIAMENTE EN MI PAIS JAMAS VEREMOS ALGO ASI, PERO ME IMAGINO QUE HA DE SER UNA BENDICION DE DIOS ESTAR FRENTE A UN ESPECTACULO DE ESA MAGNITUD.
airliner, on July 10, 2008, said:
amazing foto!!! really awesome well done kjetil
duktigt!, bra!
greetings from greece
Luis Antonio Martinez J., on July 13, 2008, said:
Excelente fotografía, me parece excepcional la manera en que se mezclan los colores de la tierra con el cielo y la aurora!!! Congratulations Kjetil...
mauricia, on July 15, 2008, said:
This foto is fantastic!! Chreers**Mauricia*+
LAX. ツ, on July 16, 2008, said:
fantastic photo! love it! excellent shot! BRAVO! greetings from Romania LAX.
© SashM, on August 11, 2008, said:
This is amazing photo, nice colours, well done!!! My YS
regards © SashM
look at © SashM photos
Terrablau, on August 30, 2008, said:
Amazing.
luca ©, on August 30, 2008, said:
magic instant, and good composition, cheers Rome, Luka
►Trip to Berlin◄
Jan de Boer, on August 30, 2008, said:
Incredible light. Congrats! Cheers, Jan
I'm leaving Panoramio..., on August 30, 2008, said:
A really great photo ! I hope that one day I could see this with my own eyes ! Congrats !
scheffke, on October 23, 2008, said:
Fantastic Photo !!
Scheffke
>| Micha |<, on October 23, 2008, said:
Very special and beautiful.
AXOTA, on October 26, 2008, said:
I am certain that this incredible photo deserves to be seen worldwide, but as WorldInPictures is a commercial profit making organisation, is it fair that they can hijack this photo without recompense??
Just a thought----AXOTA
vlry, on October 26, 2008, said:
really remarkable pic and annotation to this by AXOTA, so I copy here: "I am certain that this incredible photo deserves to be seen worldwide, but as WorldInPictures is a commercial profit making organisation, is it fair that they can hijack this photo without recompense??
Just a thought----AXOTA"
jannias-no., on October 27, 2008, said:
Fra en GREKER som er bod i Norge i 40 år. Jag har set Nordlys i Oslo 1986. Men din bilde fra norkap er fandastisk. Hylsen Jannis
Bruno Alexandre Rocha, on November 27, 2008, said:
Nossa, o famoso fenômeno.. muito bela paisagem. Great picture! Greetings from Brasil
alejandria10, on December 3, 2008, said:
wow
Hasan KHANSA, on December 21, 2008, said:
the anggry nature, nice photo, thank you from Syria, Middle East
Margueritat, on December 21, 2008, said:
Bonsoir, bravo pour cette superbe photo, je rêve depuis toujours d'avoir la chance de voir une aurore boréale comme celle-ci; en avril prochain je vais de Bergen au cap nord, peut-être aurai-je le plaisir et la chance d'en voir une, même une toute petite???.....
CHEZAL, on February 5, said:
OOOOOHHHH!!!!!, espectacular, uno de mis sueños es poder visitar algún día estos lugares y poder comtemplar estas maravillas de la naturaleza. Enhorabuena. un saludo.
Codemo Walter, on March 5, said:
WOW-- the perfect shot! beautiful colors
Greatings from Tyrol
White Tiger, on March 7, said:
Amazing Shot !! Congratulation !!
>>> ... <<<
CarlY25, on March 21, said:
awesome!! the northern lights are amazing!!:D
秋圣心, on March 27, said:
夜！
Jan de Boer, on March 27, said:
Wonderful capture. Y*!
Cheers, Jan de Boer
giannadakhs nikos, on March 27, said:
wonderful foto.I WOOLD LOVE TO FOTOGRAPH THIS BEAUTIFUL A NATURAL PHENOMENON
nadiakushnir, on May 4, said:
Amazing view! Amazing natural phenomenon! Nadia.
Krzysztof Bochniak, on May 7, said:
Great photo! Greetings from Lodz, Poland.
6062lau, on May 11, said:
Veldig flott bilde ! Gratulerer. Hilsen fra Norge også ;-)
brendnpeto, on May 16, said:
Very nice shot!
Greetings from Slovakia (brendnpeto)
orhan ipek, on June 4, said:
çok güzel resimler hayran oldum doğrusu
luciano640, on June 12, said:
Fantastic picture and very nice view.
Greetings,Luciano
Mira Plecko, on June 23, said:
Divine! Mira
boskimano, 10 days ago, said:
uuuuffffffffffff ,wwwwwwwwooooowwwwwwwwwww.congratuleixons and congratuleixons .saludos boskimano.gracias