Norway to Resume Hunting of Whales

Norway Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, the 1992 Commencement speaker who preached the importance of environmental issues, announced yesterday that her country will resume commercial whale hunting next year.

Now, wildlife defense groups are blasting Brundtland--usually a darling of conservationists--for a move they say is politically unwise, economically unfeasible and environmentally unsound.

Brundtland traveled to Harvard's Commencement straight from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil where she gave the keynote address. When her selection as speaker was announced in April, Harvard Alumni Association Executive Director John P. Reardon Jr. '60 called Brundtland a "catalyst, a mover on environmental issues."

"This is one that evidently slipped under the rug," Center for Marine Conservation spokesperson Thomas M. Miller said yesterday.

In her Commencement address, Brundtland told Harvard graduates that "decisions leading to sustainable development will be illusionary if we can only move forward at a snail's pace decided by the most reluctant movers."

Brundtland's announcement to resume whale hunting comes during the week of the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting. Originallydesigned to set quotas for whaling countries, thecommission now serves primarly as a conservationorganization, according to Philip J. Clapham,director of population studies at the Center forCoastal studies.

Iceland, Norway and Japan--the world's threeprincipal whaling nations--now say new scientificevidence proves that certain whale populations arenot in danger of extinction, and would be unharmedby regulated commercial whaling, Clapham said.

The whaling countries argue that Europeancountries' bans on whaling are impositions ofcultural values, and argue that "you kill cows, wekill whales, that's the same thing," Clapham said.

But whales are intelligent mammals that havebecome a symbol of the environment and the plightof the Earth, Clapham said. "All species are notequal' would be the argument on the part of anumber of people," he said.

"The whale issue has become less a scientificissue and more a moral... issue," said MinetteJohnson, species recovery assistant at the Centerfor Marine Conservation. "We're very disappointedthat Norway is making that kind of statement,"Johnson said.

Clapham said the whale-hunting nations have"some science to back them up--it's a bitequivocal."

The data Norway is using is unreliable, hesaid, because it is difficult to achieve anaccurate count of the whale population. Whalesconstantly move and migrate, making it impossibleto track an entire species at once, Johnson said.

Greenpeace, USA. spokesperson C. Blair Palesesaid her organization reacted with "anger, dismay,frustration" to Brundtland's announcement.

"It's very daunting," she said. "After 20 yearsof working on this issue, it's very frustrating tosee a nation turn back."

Norway's ecnomony does not rely on commercialwhaling, Palese said. And Miller said the onlydemand for whale meat worldwide comes fromaffluent Japanese consumers. Internationaltreaties ban the trade of minke whales, he said.

In a statement, Greenpeace called Norway a"declared pirate whaling nation."

Brundtland's move may impede Norway's pendingapplication to join the European Community, whichfor bids whale hunting, Clapham said.

Although she generally has a strong repuatationas an environmentalist, Brundtland has always beenan advocate of commercial whaling, Palese said.

"We've been fighting her on whale issues for aslong as she's been around," Palese said.

Environmental Action Committee Chair Brett R.Huff '93 said many nations look to Norway as acountry that should take a lead in banningwhaling. "A lot of people are going to be reallyupset about it," Huff said

Iceland, Norway and Japan--the world's threeprincipal whaling nations--now say new scientificevidence proves that certain whale populations arenot in danger of extinction, and would be unharmedby regulated commercial whaling, Clapham said.

The whaling countries argue that Europeancountries' bans on whaling are impositions ofcultural values, and argue that "you kill cows, wekill whales, that's the same thing," Clapham said.

But whales are intelligent mammals that havebecome a symbol of the environment and the plightof the Earth, Clapham said. "All species are notequal' would be the argument on the part of anumber of people," he said.

"The whale issue has become less a scientificissue and more a moral... issue," said MinetteJohnson, species recovery assistant at the Centerfor Marine Conservation. "We're very disappointedthat Norway is making that kind of statement,"Johnson said.

Clapham said the whale-hunting nations have"some science to back them up--it's a bitequivocal."

The data Norway is using is unreliable, hesaid, because it is difficult to achieve anaccurate count of the whale population. Whalesconstantly move and migrate, making it impossibleto track an entire species at once, Johnson said.

Greenpeace, USA. spokesperson C. Blair Palesesaid her organization reacted with "anger, dismay,frustration" to Brundtland's announcement.

"It's very daunting," she said. "After 20 yearsof working on this issue, it's very frustrating tosee a nation turn back."

Norway's ecnomony does not rely on commercialwhaling, Palese said. And Miller said the onlydemand for whale meat worldwide comes fromaffluent Japanese consumers. Internationaltreaties ban the trade of minke whales, he said.

In a statement, Greenpeace called Norway a"declared pirate whaling nation."

Brundtland's move may impede Norway's pendingapplication to join the European Community, whichfor bids whale hunting, Clapham said.

Although she generally has a strong repuatationas an environmentalist, Brundtland has always beenan advocate of commercial whaling, Palese said.

"We've been fighting her on whale issues for aslong as she's been around," Palese said.

Environmental Action Committee Chair Brett R.Huff '93 said many nations look to Norway as acountry that should take a lead in banningwhaling. "A lot of people are going to be reallyupset about it," Huff said