whale-for-sale

WHALE FOR SALE THE GLOBAL TRADE IN DEAD WHALESGreenlandGreenland: Great whales killed after the moratorium2502001501005001987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012ASWIllegal catchMore than 4,300 whales were killed during this period including bowhead, fin, humpback, minke and sei whalesWhilst whaling in Greenland is believed to have started around 900 years ago, it wasn´t until the lastcentury and the introduction of rifles, the harpoon gun and small motor vessels that Greenlandicwhaling began as we know it today. For many years, Greenland’s Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling(ASW) hunt of minke, fin and humpback whales, has given cause for concern. The ICRW, whichestablished the IWC, contains no clear definition of key terms, including ‘aboriginal’, ‘ASW’ or‘needs’. Consequently, the establishment of ASW quotas and the operation of these hunts remaincontroversial issues for the IWC and in recent years, this ambiguity has helped Greenland to justify itsincreased commercialization of whaling activities.Greenland has stated publicly that it is interested in establishing international commercial trade inwhale products, despite the fact that it only receives a quota on the understanding that the hunt isconducted to feed aboriginal peoples.The number of licensed subsistence hunters in Greenland has declined by 49% between1993- 2010. The native-born population of Greenland has increased by 9.9% in the last 24years. Despite this, Greenland’s quota requests for large whales in this same period haveincreased by 89%. 1In 2012, Denmark, speaking on behalf of Greenland, presented an increased ASW catch quota proposalthat was rejected at that year’s IWC meeting. Greenland resumed hunting in spring 2013 withoutan approved IWC quota.Dolphin hunts: Greenland also kills thousands of narwhals, belugas, orcas and porpoises each year.These hunts for smaller whale and dolphin species are not regulated by the IWC and catch numbershave been of concern even to Greenlandic scientists. Orca meat is frequently fed to sled dogs.{ 14 }