Today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned representatives of the embassies of the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain in Oslo to refute the erroneous allegations these countries have made against Norway for its management of the Northeast Atlantic minke whale stocks.

Norway is the only country in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that engages in regular, commercial whaling activities. The whaling is conducted in line with IWC rules. The quotas are calculated on the basis of criteria established by the IWC’s Scientific Committee and are fully in accordance with the principles of sustainable harvesting of natural living resources.

Norwegian scientists are working on ways to update the IWC quota calculation model and intend to present the new calculations at the IWC annual meeting in June. They have reason to believe that more exact knowledge of the whale stocks will warrant higher quotas without compromising the strict requirements established by the IWC to prevent the stocks being overharvested.

A few weeks ago, the countries whose representatives were summoned presented a demarche accusing Norway of unilaterally introducing new rules for calculating quotas in order to set higher quotas than IWC rules allow.

Whaling Commissioner Karsten Klepsvik has refuted the allegations, which are unfounded and not conducive to building the mutual trust the IWC is dependent on if it is to ensure sustainable and sound management of the world’s whale stocks in the future.

Mr Klepsvik also denied the British Fisheries Minister’s allegation that the Norwegian Government is putting pressure on Norwegian scientists, and that Norwegian whaling constitutes a threat to the minke whale stocks. Norway objects to this attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of Norwegian scientists.