Will Iceland Quit Whaling at Last?
By Mark J. Palmer
Special thanks to Kate O’Connell, Marine Animal Consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute, for providing translation of the op ed.
Iceland’s Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, wrote in a receent op ed for the publication Morgunblaðið that whaling was likely to end for that country.
Iceland has been an outspoken proponent of whaling at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for many years, despite the moratorium on commercial whaling approved in 1982.
In her op ed, Minister Svavarsdóttir noted that: "In the last three years, no large whales have been caught, but one minke whale was caught in 2021."
Across the globe, Japan, which had accepted imports of fin whales, an endangered species, from Iceland, no longer has much market for whale meat, and its own whaling fleet is barely hanging on.
"It must be demonstrated that it is economically justifiable to renew whaling rights. In a historical context, these whale hunts have had a negative effect on the country's export interests," the minister wrote.
An endangered fin whale is carved up for meat, likely to be exported from Iceland to Japan. Photo Credit: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Iceland’s current permits for whaling expire in 2024. Of Iceland’s two whaling companies, one has already announced its permanent closure.
All things be equal, Minister Svavarsdóttir believes no new permits will be issued.
Such a move would leave Japan and Norway as the last two countries conducting commercial whaling.
Her op ed concludes: "All things being equal, there is little justification for authorizing whaling after 2024. This year, an assessment will be made of the potential macroeconomic and social impact of such a decision."
Commercial whaling has destroyed millions of whales and harmed marine ecosystems for hundreds of years. It is well past time that harpooning whales comes to an end, once and for all.
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The International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute has been working for decades to end commercial whaling and the slaughter of whales and dolphins. Your support is critical to our continued campaigning against whaling. Will you donate to help the whales and dolphins? Thank you!
