Norway has been a major player in the polar bear skin trade, second only to China as an importer for many years, according to multiple reports. Despite the polar bear being fully protected in Norway since 1973 and classified as vulnerable, Norwegian law permits the purchase and sale of skins imported from abroad. A souvenir shop on Bryggen in Bergen has a hidden room with what the owner, Kjetil Sørensen, describes as one of the world's largest private collections of polar bear skins and stuffed heads, valued at several million Norwegian kroner. The skins come from Canada, the only country that allows export of newly shot polar bear skins.
Canadian authorities assert that the hunting is sustainable, but a 2020 report commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment concluded that population decline and data gaps make sustainability uncertain. Despite skepticism from its own expert body, Norwegian authorities continue to allow imports, trusting Canadian oversight. The documentary 'Trade Secret' argues that international trade in polar bears must end and criticizes Norway for twice voting against a ban.
I don't like to show this off. It's a bit too vulgar for the common man. I call them coffee people, those who aren't used to seeing such things.
In 2022, an animal rights activist posing as a Chinese tourist secretly filmed an employee at Sørensen's shop. In the recording, the employee allegedly said some bears were illegally hunted and that customers could buy skins and drive away without import issues. Both Sørensen and the employee deny the allegations, claiming the conversation was taken out of context and mistranslated. According to NRK Norge, Sørensen described the use of hidden camera as objectionable. Between 2019 and 2021, 49 polar bear skins were imported from Canada to Norway, but only two followed in the next three years. Dag Vongraven of the Norwegian Polar Institute recommends stopping imports, according to NRK Sápmi. Indigenous peoples in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska hunt over 500 polar bears annually under exemptions.
It's a bit 'touchy', this here.
I react to the use of hidden camera and illegal filming.
Our advice is to stop the import of skins. We need to get a better overview of what is happening with the hunt elsewhere, and whether the skins being imported come from legal hunting.