The
meeting of the World Council of Whalers(WCW) ended on September 29,2002,in
the Faroe Islands, after four days of discussion on whaling for the
future as well as hands-on exchange of information on whale cuisine
and flensing techniques.
 The meeting brought
people from whaling communities and countries in four continents together
in the Faroes, where whaling has for centuries provided the Faroese
people with an important supply of food.
A feature of
the meeting was a special international whale cuisine banquet on September
27 evening, when chefs from Greenland, Saint Lucia, Japan, Iceland
and the Faroes, showcased the variety of food cultures around the
world based on whale resources, with a range of both traditional and
innovative whale dishes. While concerns have been expressed about
the level of contaminants in some species of whale, the meeting also
underlined the fact that whale meat and blubber has well-known health
benefits as food for people.
Another highlight
of the meeting was a workshop organized by the Faroese pilot whalers
association. Using three whole whale carcasses put aside for the occasion,
participants from around the world were shown how pilot whales are
flensed and how the shares of meat and blubber are distributed in
the community. A whaler from Taiji in Japan took the opportunity to
show how the same whales are flensed for food in his country,and a
whaler from the Canadian Arctic also explained Inuit flensing techniques.
Maori representatives
from the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission (Te Ohu Kai Moana)
in New Zealand, who are working to develop their traditional use of
the bone, teeth and meat of stranded whales, also followed the flensing
demonstration with interest. |
A port town in Faroe Islands |
In the Faroe Islands,
the annual average catch of pilot whales represents some 30% of all
locally produced food. In New Zealand, stranded whales are disposed
of rather than utilized.
The Minister
of Fisheries of the Faroe Islands,Jorgen Niclasen, who welcomed the
World Council of Whalers to the Faroes, noted that after the recent
adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development,
it is encouraging that the international community has finally begun
to understand that whaling is about food security and the rights of
peoples to use their resources.
Questions were
however raised during the meeting about the continued attempts to
actively deny people their rights to use whales as resources for food
and other products. The pollution of the marine environment is also
having an impact on the quality of this food. But it is the whaling
communities who are bearing the costs.
(to be continued on next page) |
