Iceland
resumes commercial whaling
17 October 2006 - Iceland —
In Iceland, the whale watching industry contributes
more to the national economy than commercial whaling
did before it was put on hold in the '80s. Yet
now, after 17 years, Iceland has officially resumed
commercial whaling.
Today, the Icelandic Fisheries
Ministry issued a permit to hunt 39 whales for
commercial purposes. Nine of these are endangered
fin whales - putting to lie claims that the hunt
is sustainable.
The old Icelandic whale processing
factory is also reportedly being put back into
service.
Prior to today, Norway was the
only country openly conducting commercial whaling.
Japan conducts a large yearly hunt using the pretence
of "scientific whaling" to keep its
industry alive. Since 2003, Iceland has also engaged
in so called "scientific whaling". In
both cases the meat is sold, mostly as a luxury
food.
The question of why?
Kristjan Loftsson, managing
director of the Icelandic whaling company, is
said to be "pleased" about receiving
the hunt permit. But the question remains: why
kill whales? Why try to revive a dying industry
with a long history of deception and mismanagement?
There is a glut of unwanted
meat in Iceland, Norway and Japan. In Iceland,
they haven't even sold the meat from earlier "scientific"
hunts. There simply is not much of a market for
the stuff.
A Gallup poll, commissioned
by IFAW and released last month, found that, "Only
1.1 percent of Icelanders eat whale meat once
a week or more, while 82.4 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds
never eat whale meat." Not very optimistic
numbers for a business venture.
Whale watching and how you can
help
Iceland has a choice. Most Icelanders
are environmentally conscious, and in favour of
using marine resources in a way that preserves
them for future generations. Its whale watching
industry is known around the world, and brings
in more revenue than whaling possibly could. Yet,
the Fisheries Ministry has done a favour for a
very small interest group, and granted a permit
for commercial whaling.
This permit should be revoked
before the first whale is killed. You can help
by signing the Icelandic pledge. Tens of thousands
of people have pledged to consider visiting Iceland
as tourists and whale watchers, but only AFTER
the whale killing ends.
