mink
An exhausted and famished little guy was
found in the harbour in Tromsdalen one day in
the early autumn. The veterinarian determined
he was a stray ferret puppy, and the Norwegian
Society for Protection of Animals in Tromsø
was contacted with the hope of finding the
owner.
After a short time in foster care, however,
it became clear that the little guy was not a fer-
ret at all, but actually a small mink. The puppy
was named Liam Mink Jagger and thoroughly
enjoyed himself in his new surroundings, bliss-
fully unaware that his new designation imme-
diately meant trouble. Mink are not a natural
part of the Norwegian fauna and have a major
negative impact on native species. If you catch a
mink, releasing it is strictly prohibited – and it is
also illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet. Things
didn’t look good for the little mink, while local
bird species had one less enemy.
“Mink is responsible for a reduction of the
natural diversity in Norway, especially when it
comes to ground-nesting birds. Mink kills not
only what it wants to eat, but can also embark
on mass killings of eggs and fledglings. This can
actually lead to the eradication of entire bird
colonies,” says UiT biologist Jenny Stien.
As part of her doctoral thesis, she researched
methods for monitoring mink populations, and
the effectiveness of removing mink from certain
areas.
Significant threat to nature
Mink was introduced to Norway from North
America in 1927, with the advent of fur farming
in Vestfold. Some individuals escaped, others
were released as the economy deteriorated,
and it turned out that mink easily made itself at
home in the Norwegian countryside.
It has an incredible capacity to move about,
both on land and at sea. It eats pretty much
everything it comes across and has no natural
enemies. For nearly a century now, the mink has
done significant damage to many of our own
species, including species on the Norwegian
Red List, such as terns and gulls.
The mink’s ability to multiply at the same
time as it is a successful hunter has led to it being
classified as a “very high risk” to Norwegian
nature, and it has thus landed on the Norwegian
Black List.
In Norway, the Norwegian Biodiversity
Information Centre (NBIC) is responsible
for determining which species don’t belong
in Norway, and how harmful they are for
our domestic ecosystems. In its latest report,
from 2012, the NBIC lists 2,320 alien species
in Norway. These are species that originally
belong in a different biogeographic area, but
which people have brought to Norway, either
accidentally or intentionally. Of these alien
species, 217 are considered to constitute such a
significant ecological risk to our native species
and ecosystems that they have landed on the
Norwegian Black List.
The spread of alien species is considered
one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Only
habitat loss leads to the extinction of more spec
ies worldwide.
Few national action plans
Through the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity, Norway has committed itself to fight
alien species as far as possible. This is done in
part by preventing the import of alien species
and controlling or eradicating alien species that
threaten the ecosystem. This is also reflected in
our legislation, including the Nature Diversity
Act. Yet, at the time of writing this article, there
are national action plans in place for only five
species – the raccoon dog, mink, Japanese rose,
Spanish slug and the salmon parasite
Gyrodac
tylus salaris
.
“It takes time to develop these kinds of
action plans. First and foremost, you need solid
decision-making criteria. You need a lot of
knowledge about how the species lives and its
prevalence in Norway, and you need to find out
which methods are actually effective to com-
bat it,” says Esten Ødegaard of the Norwegian
Environment Agency. The Norwegian Environ-
ment Agency is responsible for natural resource
management here in Norway, and thus also has
the primary responsibility for preparing action
plans against invasive species on the Norwegian
Black List.
He says that, in addition to the five action
plans already in place, they are currently work-
ing on four new ones.
“At the same time, we have measures in
place to fight many alien species even where
a national action plan is not yet in place, par-
ticularly at the regional level and in protected
areas.”
Ødegaard believes that Norway’s efforts
in this area are relatively good compared with
other countries.
“From a European perspective, we are at
the forefront in many areas, especially when it
comes to the risk assessments conducted by the
NBIC. Other European countries have not yet
implemented such thorough work in this area.
Naturally, there are countries that are ahead of
us,” he says, and points to New Zealand and
Australia, which have very strict rules on what
can be brought into the country.
Not every species on the Black List is
unwelcome
As with so many other things, it is often more
cost effective to prevent new species from
establishing themselves than trying to eradicate
them later. And just because a species is on the
Black List, it doesn’t automatically mean that an
action plan will be developed.
“Even if a species poses a significant eco-
logical risk, it doesn’t mean that Norway is best
served by doing something about it,” says Lis-
beth Gederaas of the NBIC.
Several of the species on the Black List actu-
ally have other positive consequences, such as
being financially profitable. The king crab is one
such species. It is an active predator considered
to pose a very high ecological risk in Norwegian
waters, but since fishing king crab is so lucrative,
it has nevertheless been decided that a stock will
be maintained off the coast of East Finnmark.
“This is a typical example of a cost-benefit
effect that is often considered in these con-
texts. It falls outside the scope of our mandate,
though, which is only to assess the ecological
risk,” says Gederaas.
NBIC’s work does not actually include con-
ducting its own research, it is a neutral party
48
47
labyrint
•
research magazine
from
u
i
t
the
arctic
university
of
norway
The first
alien species
probably
came to Norway with agriculture
about 4,000–5,000 years ago.
