The Nordic Council for Animal Welfare (NDR) which consists of animal welfare organisations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, gathered at its annual meeting in Uppsala (Sweden), 23 August 1997, expresses the following:
NDR considers experiencing whales and dolphins in their natural environment, i.e., at sea in the form of whale watching, to be the only responsible 'utilisation' of these animals.
Therefore, NDR welcomes the rapid development of whale watching in Iceland and to some extent also in Norway. Icelandic experience indicates that such benigh utilisation of cetaceans constitutes a real economic and ethical alternative to commercial whaling for the countries concerned and an important contribution to the economy of the coastal population.
The Norwegian minke whaling is, in the opinion of NDR, unacceptable and does not satisfy generally accepted standards of humane killing of animals.
NDR, therefore, urges Norwegian whaling interests, politicians and authorities to shift their attention, energy and financial resources from whaling to whale watching, the latter being a matter of the future.
Furthermore, NDR most strongly urges the authorities in those Nordic countries where small cetaceans drown in connection with net fishing to act in order to achieve an immediate reduction of this totally unacceptable bycatch."