A Norwegian pro-whaling lobby says a new study shows that harpooning the giant mammals is less damaging to the climate than farming livestock.
Environmental group Greenpeace dismissed the survey, saying almost every kind of food was more climate-friendly than meat.
The survey, focused on whale boats' fuel use, showed that a kilo of whale meat represented just 1.9 kilo of greenhouse gases against 15.8 for beef, 6.4 for pork and 4.6 for chicken.
"Basically it turns out that the best thing you can do for the planet is to eat whale meat compared to other types of meat," said Rune Froevik of the High North Alliance, which represents the interests of coastal communities in the Arctic.
"Greenhouse gas emissions caused by one meal of beef are the equivalent of eight meals of whale meat," the study said.
The Norwegian-based Alliance said it was the first to measure the "carbon footprint" of whaling. Fish and seafood was comparable to whale meat with relatively low emissions.
Norway and Japan, the two main whaling nations, are seeking new arguments to promote whale meat after years of condemnation from anti-whaling nations for breaking with a 1986 moratorium on all hunts meant to save many whale species from extinction.
Oslo says, for instance, that the small minke whales it hunts are plentiful in the North Atlantic and that a 2008 Norwegian quota of 1,052 animals will not harm stocks.
Part 1
04/03/2008
Melbourne, Victoria