Steinar Bastesen (born 26 March 1945 in Dønna), is a Norwegian politician. A former fisher and whaler, Bastesen was first elected to the Norwegian Storting in 1997 as an independent candidate. In 1999, he participated in forming the Coastal Party, or Kystpartiet, a political party in Norway. He headed this party from 1999 to March 2005, when internal disparity among the members forced him to give up his leadership. Nevertheless, Bastesen kept his seat in the Storting until the 2005 election.
Bastesen is known for his vigorous advocacy of whaling, and usually appears on television wearing a seal-fur vest. In 1997, Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson claimed in a television interview that Bastesen had threatened to kill him. Bastesen vehemently denied the allegation, and sued Watson for defamation of character.
In 1998, Bastesen made a famous statement saying that the whale Keiko, known from the Free Willy films, should be killed and the meat sent to Africa as foreign aid. This was his response to hearing that millions of dollars were being spent on preparing the whale for returning to the wild[1]
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