OSLO, Norway, May 30 (UPI) -- Norway's Foreign Ministry has canceled the contract of a U.S. lobbyist who helped it fend off protests of its controversial whale hunts.
Norwegian officials took the action because their nation's annual whale hunt isn't producing as much controversy as it once did, the Aftenposten reported Monday.
Norway's annual whale hunt began earlier this spring, but officials said so few calls and letters were received that staff at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington can handle them on their own.
The ministry had a contract for 10 years with lobbyist Billy Evans, who was charged with getting American politicians to understand why Norway renewed whale hunting in 1993.
Evans was paid about $250 dollars an hour to try to sway American opinion.
It's a big change from the early 1990s, when then-President Bill Clinton urged economic sanctions against Norway because of its whale hunt. Both Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund also put pressure on Norway, when it raised quotas for the hunt.
Norwegian government officials told the Aftenposten the ministry will continually evaluate the need for lobbying help if protests resume.
