Kingdom of Norway
O.G. Skagestad
Norwegians have been hunting whales for more than a thousand years, although the nation first started commercial whaling in the nineteenth century. Norway was a founding member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Although Norway initially opposed the 1982 moratorium on whaling, it suspended commercial whaling in 1987. In 1997, it resumed hunting of Atlantic minke whales. Ambassador O.G. Skagestad was appointed on November 5, 1999. The following is excerpted from Norway’s opening statement at the Berlin meeting of the IWC on June 16, 2003.Norway’s position on the various agenda issues follows from our overall policy objective: We want the…
