Norwegian whaling season in full swing
Lofotposten is reporting that as of this week, all 18 Norwegian whaling vessels that are registered to hunt this year are now actively catching whales, and some 180 minkes have been taken to date.
It appears that 84 whales were taken last week alone, 30 more than in the same time period the previous year. Thirty were taken in eastern Finnmark, thirty at Spitsbergen and the remainder off Lofoten and Smøla.
At this point last year, 118 minke whales had been killed, according to Per Rolandsen of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Sales Organization (Råfisklaget).
Råfisklaget also claim that sales are also doing well, as, “whale meat is of the best quality this time of year”.
Yet despte the optimism of the Råfisklaget it seems that the Norwegian whaling industry is still not able to sell all its whale meat through the whole season, and are now having to target youth and celebrities to reinvigorate their flagging industry.
Some 19 fishing/whaling boats took part in the 2011 hunt, down from 33 in 2001, and only 18 vessels in 2013.