Head of Iran’s Veterinary Organization Mehdi Khalaj and Norway Chief Veterinary Officer Kristina Landsverk signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to broaden veterinary cooperation between the two countries.

Iran’s Ambassador to Oslo Mohammad-Hassan Habibollahzadeh was also present in the signing ceremony.

The MoU calls for control and prevention of seafood diseases and promotion of protective and monitoring system for the purpose.

Iranian and Norwegian research and scientific centers will have cooperation in prevention and elimination of the diseases and issuance of veterinary health certificates.

Under the MoU, the two sides will upgrade cooperation within framework of the World Animal Health Organization’s international regulations.

(IRNA)

Norway is planning a mass cull of reindeer to stop the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Experts have said an entire herd must be killed off to prevent the disease devastating the country’s reindeer population, the Local reported.

The cull which could involve several thousand animals is scheduled to take place in a mountainous region northwest of Oslo.

Washington, DC—(April 3, 2017) — A coalition of international whale protection organizations today strongly condemned the start of Norway’s 2017 whaling season, which began on April 1.

The coalition believes the hunt could result in the cruel slaughter of up to 999 minke whales, a self-allocated quota more than 100 higher than that set by the Norwegian government in 2016. In addition, 90 percent of the minke whales hunted by Norway’s whaling industry are females and almost all of them are pregnant, effectively nearly doubling the actual death toll and seriously impacting future generations of the species.

The increased quota comes as domestic demand for whale meat has flagged and international exports of Norwegian whale products have escalated, in contravention of global bans on both commercial whaling and international trade in whale products.

This year’s whaling quota, which is not authorized by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), allows hunting in areas where it is known that most of the whales will be female and pregnant and cements Norway’s status as the world’s number one whale-killing nation.

“Norway is a modern nation but its whaling practices are cruel, irresponsible, unnecessary and frozen in time,” said Jennifer Lonsdale, Environmental Investigation Agency senior oceans campaigner. “Norway’s reputation is consistently stained by the blood of the sentient and intelligent whales that it kills. It ignores the important contributions the whales make to maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, including in Norwegian waters.”

Norway has slaughtered more than 12,000 whales since 1993, despite the IWC’s longstanding ban on commercial whaling. To make matters worse, Per Sandberg, Norway’s minister of fisheries, recently indicated he would like to see this year’s quota of 999 whales double in the future—despite no endorsement by the IWC Scientific Committee that such a high annual body count is sustainable.

“It is the height of biological recklessness for Norway to set whaling quotas that the world’s leading cetacean scientists have not declared to be sustainable. False information does not become true, no matter how often whaling advocates repeat it,” offered Nicolas Entrup, consultant to OceanCare. “Ultimately, however, this is not an issue of what is sustainable. Rather, it’s about what is necessary—commercial whaling is no longer necessary and the global ban must be enforced.”

Norway’s rapidly growing trade in whale products is also cause for concern. In 2016 alone, it exported 197 metric tons of whale meat and blubber to Japan, more than in the previous two years combined, all in defiance of the international ban on the commercial trade in whale products imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

“Norway is hiding behind its objections and reservations to decisions agreed to in international treaties, by continuing to peddle its whale products internationally,” said Dr. Sandra Altherr, a biologist with Pro Wildlife. “Norway must comply with its obligations under these treaties and embrace the fact that whales are worth far more alive than dead, and the European Union must urgently and strongly oppose Norwegian whaling in European waters.”

The organizations fear that increased international trade helps keep afloat an industry that has been struggling, given a decline in demand for whale meat in Norway. In January 2017, for example, approximately 60 tonnes of minke whale meat was donated to Norwegian soup kitchens and senior centers, as businesses sought to offload unsold product approaching its sell-by date. In addition, in recent years, more than 100 tonnes of whale products were delivered to Rogaland Pelsdyrfôrlaget—the largest manufacturer of animal feed for the Norwegian fur industry.

“This cruel industry is dying as demand for whale products in Norway evaporates,” said DJ Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute. “It is time for Norway to discard the harpoons and end the unnecessary suffering of whales and their unborn offspring by prohibiting commercial whaling; no other alternative is acceptable.”

(N.Sethurupan)

It has been a busy winter period for the Norwegian Coast Guard with one of its patrol vessels tasked to two separate incidents involving a disabled ex-buoy tender and a drifting barge carrier.

The Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Bergen is a VS794CG design, described as a patrol vessel but with multipurpose capabilities including towing and salvage and in effect an ‘emergency towing vessel’ in its own right, one of a number protecting Norway’s hostile and exposed yet environmentally vulnerable coastline.

Its towing capability was put to the test recently when the former Norwegian buoy tender Vikingfjord called for assistance after suffering machinery failure in bad weather conditions while off Sotra, west of Bergen on the country’s south west coast. KV Bergen was just a few hours steaming away and responded to Vikingfjord’s request for help.

Once on scene KV Bergen reported bad weather conditions including 25’ high seas and wind gusting up to 60 knots and with assistance from another ‘VS’ designed vessel, the Ocean Response a towing connection was established with the Vikingfjord. Problems however with the connection led to the tow line parting and a second connection had to be made after which slow progress was made towards shelter. Once near shore the tow was reported as being handed over to the tug Sjøbas which towed the disabled vessel towards Korsfjorden.

Just two weeks previous to the above incident, KV Bergen along with the patrol vessels KV Sortland and KV Tor were called into action when the 40,000dwt barge carrier Tide Carrier dragged its anchor and reportedly came within 100m of running aground off Jæren, Norway.

It was reported that the vessel lost power and attempted to anchor to arrest a shoreward drift. After regaining power and getting under way Tide Carrier once again lost power and re-anchored deploying two anchors. An injured crewmember along with four non-essential crew were airlifted off the vessel and two pilots and two towage company employees put on board to assist with the operation.

Dramatic aerial footage of the operation later showed the Buksér og Berging tug BB Server establishing a towing connection with the Tide Carrier and along with another tug towed the vessel to a safe anchorage off Feistein Fyr.

Looking at the two main ‘players’ in these incidents, KV Bergen is managed by Fosnavåg-based Remøy Management on behalf of the Norwegian Coast Guard. Built by Myklebust Verft AS in 2010 the vessel has a length of 93m and gross tonnage of 4,025gt. BB Server is a multifunctional ship-assist and escort ASD tug built by Moen Slip in 2008. At 37m LOA, two ABC main engines develop 2,100kW in total and deliver a bollard pull of 71t via Schottel CP azimuth thrusters.

(maritimejournal)