Help End Iceland’s Whaling

By Mark J. Palmer

Iceland’s whaling may be coming to an end, and you can help speed its demise.

The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute has joined forces with our friends at the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), OceanCare, and LegaSeas to mount a special appeal from the public to the government of Iceland, encouraging them to put an end to Iceland’s whaling industry.

• Back in February 2022, Iceland’s Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Ms. Svandís Svavarsdóttir, wrote in an op ed for the publication Morgunblaðið that whaling was likely to end for that country.
• But Iceland’s last whaling company defiantly went hunting for fin whales, the second largest whale on Earth, and last summer killed 148 endangered fins in the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Minister Svavarsdóttir commissioned a study of the whale hunt, examining the humaneness of the hunts and especially how long it took massive fin whales to die from exploding harpoons.
• The results of the study by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority were just issued, and the results were shocking, even among people familiar with whaling issues. Of 58 instances examined, 36 whales had to be harpooned more than once. Only 35 of the 58 monitored fin whales died instantly – average time from being shot with an exploding harpoon and death was 11.5 minutes. Two whales took more than an hour to die.

Much of the meat from the whaling is exported to Japan. Icelanders were never major consumers of whale meat. A new poll shows 51% of Icelanders do not want whaling to continue.

Only Japan, Norway, and Iceland ignore the global moratorium on commercial whaling set in place by the International Whaling Commission.

It is way past time that Iceland joined other nations in ending the killing of whales.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Send a letter directly to Ms. Svavarsdóttir, the Icelandic Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Urge her to end Iceland’s commercial whaling industry, for the good of whales and for the oceans. Iceland does not need the whale meat, and killing whales deprives the ocean of the ecological benefits of whales, including sequestering carbon and circulating nutrients for the health of the ocean ecosystem.

Thanks for your help!

ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS CALL FOR AN END TO ICELANDIC WHALING:

Thirty environmental and animal welfare organizations, including the International Marine Mammal Project, which helped draft the letter, have joined in sending the following letter to Ms. Svavarsdóttir, encouraging her to end Iceland’s whaling industry and stop issuing permits for future whaling.

May 3, 2023

Ms. Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Minister Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Skuggasundi 3
101 Reykjavík
Iceland

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL: svandiss@althingi.is; postur@rfs.is
Re: commercial whaling in Iceland

Dear Minister Svavarsdóttir:

The letter represents the view of 30 organizations around the world that oppose commercial whaling.

All of the organizations welcomed your op-ed in Morgunblaðið on February 4th, 2022, indicating your wish that no new whaling permits be issued in Iceland after the current permits expire in 2024. We are hopeful that the current independent review of the social and economic viability of Iceland’s whaling industry will provide support for such a conclusion. Even as the largest ever shipment of fin whale meat from Iceland recently arrived in Japan, it is clear that Iceland’s whaling is not economically viable without massive subsidies from the government of Japan to prop up the Japanese company buying the meat.

Whales contribute substantially to the health of the marine ecosystems of which they are a part. Whales help sequester carbon in the ocean depths, as well as circulating nutrients through ocean waters that support fish and other marine life. Consequently, whaling for commercial purposes is not only bad for whales, it has adverse impacts on the wider environment. It is also terribly cruel, causing prolonged times to death. We are grateful that this fact is recognized in the new whaling regulation issued by your ministry dated August 11th, 2022, and we look forward to the report on the welfare aspects of last season’s whale hunt.

We hope that a rational consideration of the economic and scientific facts relating to whales and whaling will convince the Icelandic government not to issue new whaling quotas when the current regulations expire.

Sincerely,

Susan Millward, Executive Director

Animal Welfare Institute

On behalf of:

Australian Marine Conservation Society

Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute

Brazilian Institute for Nature Conservation

CATCA Environment and Wildlife Society

Center for Biological Diversity

Centro de Conservación Cetacea

Cetacean Society International

Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos

Dolphin Connection

Earth Island Institute, International Marine Mammal Project

Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness

Environmental Investigation Agency

Humane Society International

Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas

International Fund for Animal Welfare

Iruka & Kujira Action Network

M.E.E.R. e.V.

Morigenos

Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation

Natural Resources Defense Council

OceanCare

Only One

Oceanic Preservation Society

ORCA

Origami Whales Project

Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales

People for Nature and Peace

Pro Wildlife

Save the Whales, Again!

Society for the Protection of Marine Mammals

Denmark Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Whaleman Foundation

WWF

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You can further help end the slaughter of endangered fin whales by the Icelandic whaling industry by donating to our work at Earth Island’s International Marine Mammal Project. Iceland is on the cusp of ending whaling, and your donation can make a difference. Thank you for your support!