Iceland Resumes Whaling After A Two Year Break

The bespoke Icelandic whaling vessel, Hvalur 9, set sail on Friday evening. Having harpooned two fin whales, the vessel is expected to return to the whaling station in Hvalfjörður where the giant bodies will be processed.

This is a deeply disappointing development for many who had hoped that Iceland had turned a corner on whaling, and that it was only a matter of time before the government developed legislation to ban the activity. In 2023, the then interim government very controversially issued five-year whaling permits, meaning that the 2026 catches are legal under Icelandic law.

The catches also have to be viewed in the context of the latest advice from the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, which recommends a maximum catch of 150 fin whales and 168 minke whales during the current season. Whether whale takes get anywhere near these numbers remains to be seen.

Hunting for a Market That May No Longer Want It

Fin whales are hunted exclusively by a single Icelandic company Hvalur hf. The primary market for its whale meat is Japan. Japan recently started hunting fin whales with its own whaling fleet and is thought to have significant whale meat stockpiles. Consequently, there is a question mark over whether Japan actually wants, or needs, to buy fin whale meat from Iceland.

In recent years as more information has become apparent about the cruelty of whaling, public opinion in Iceland has started to turn against it. The majority of Icelanders now want it to end.

OceanCare's Call to Iceland

OceanCare continues to call on the Icelandic people and policy makers to outlaw this archaic, cruel and unnecessary activity. We hope that the relaunch of the fin whale fleet is a blip in a transition away from this activity.

For more background on the situation in Iceland, please see our recent article.

Source

Article by the Iceland Review