Fin Whales Under Fire

By Mark J. Palmer

For those, like me, who closely follow the politics of whaling, fin whales have been in the news lately in several places.

Fin whales are the second largest animal on Earth, exceeded in size only by the blue whale. Fin whales are global wanderers and were heavily targeted by whalers in the 20^th century. Tens of thousands were killed. Today, the fin whale is still on the US Endangered Species list and is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Vulnerable, a step above Endangered.

In Iceland, only one whaling company remains, and its target is fin whales in the North Atlantic. Ignoring global assessments of fin whales, the company Hvalur hf is owned by Kristjan Loftsson, one of the richest men in Iceland and longtime advocate for the country’s violations of the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Under the provisions of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which passed the moratorium in 1982 (that went into effect in 1986), Iceland, like Norway, filed an “exception” to the whaling moratorium, technically exempting the country from the provisions of the moratorium.

In 2022, the company killed 154 fin whales (and several that looked to outside observers like blue whales, illegal even for Icelanders to kill). But members of Iceland’s government started to raise concerns about the inhumane killing of fin whales using high explosive harpoons. A ban on whaling for several months in 2023 was lifted at the end of the year, so Hvalur was only able to kill 24 fin whales as winter set in.

Recently, Loftsson reported that the Icelandic government has not issued permits to his company to go whaling this summer of 2024. Loftsson said that even if the government issued the permits now, he would have trouble getting his two whaling vessels ready in time before the fall weather causes fin whales to migrate south.

The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) and other organizations have strongly opposed continued commercial whaling by Iceland, Japan, and Norway. We have urged the Icelandic government to end all whaling and protect the fin whale populations once and for all.

Meanwhile, in a surprise announcement, the Japanese government will give its whaling company permission to kill fin whales this year, following a short public comment period. This is in addition to current targets of minke, sei and Bryde’s whales (not to mention the many dolphins and small whales slaughtered in Taiji and other ports in Japan). Last year, Japanese whalers killed 83 minke, 187 Bryde’s, and 25 sei whales, all in Japanese waters.

When some whalers complained that they were unable to find enough whales to fill their quotas, the accommodating Japan Fisheries Agency decided to open whaling on a new species, the fin whale. This growth in hunting will only further the decimation and eventual decline in whale species found in Japanese waters. The government quotas are far too high to maintain sustainable whale populations.

The proposed expansion of whaling follows the dedication of a new mother ship, the Kangei Maru, built with public tax money and loans equivalent to $47 million. (The previous mother ship is being retired.) The white elephant can process whales on board, but Japan’s current whaling is confined to the nation’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), since Japan left the International Whaling Commission five years ago. Within the EEZ, whales are killed by catcher vessels and towed to shore stations for processing. Who needs the Kangei Maru?

The new vessel is obviously meant to allow long-ranging voyages, such as to Antarctica, to kill and process whales. It is not clear when that might happen – Japanese whalers claim their government has no plans for whaling outside Japan’s EEZ. Nonetheless, the mother ship will whale this summer in northern Japanese waters.

Desperately, Japanese promoters of whale meat are trying all kinds of tricks and schemes to encourage the consumption of whale meat. Japanese children in many districts must eat school lunches of whale meat. Several small vending machine shops and restaurants specializing in whale meat dishes have been established for convenience. But few Japanese consumers are taking advantage. With more whales killed, in addition to whale meat being imported from Iceland and Norway (which have little domestic market for whale meat), it appears likely that more frozen whale meat will stack up in warehouses. The whaling industry’s hope for a renaissance of whale meat eating will likely end in disappointment…

…Or bankruptcy…assuming Japan’s government will let the industry go belly up.

The days of commercial whaling must come to an end. There is no need to kill whales to provide meat that most people will not eat and that threatens their health.

Time to stop killing whales, Japan, Iceland and Norway!

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Fin whales and other whales & dolphins need your help. Whaling, ship strikes, plastic pollution, and entanglement in fishing gear still kill too many of these friends in the sea. Your donations help protect these unique beings, as well as other ocean life. The International Marine Mammal Project is in the vanguard of efforts to save whales and dolphins. Please donate today.