What I find truly disgraceful and indefensible is that, in 2024, we are still talking about declaring quotas for whalers, says Mark Carwardine <\/p>
Iceland\u2019s appalling decision to resume whaling this summer came as a bolt from the blue. <\/strong><\/p> The shocking announcement followed months of hopeful speculation<\/a>, after last year\u2019s hunt was temporarily put on hold due to significant welfare issues.<\/p> The country\u2019s last remaining whaling company, Hvalur hf, has been granted a licence to kill up to 128 fin whales<\/a> this summer. It\u2019s devastating news for the planet\u2019s second largest animal, which is still recovering from the ravages of more than one and a half centuries of commercial whaling. <\/p> At least 915,000 fin whales have been killed worldwide \u2013 and they are listed as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.\u00a0<\/a><\/p> It looked as if Iceland had hung up its harpoons for good \u2013 we were on the verge The decision is incomprehensible. First, the Iceland Food Minister, Bjarkey Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir, said that issuing the licence was not necessarily a decision that is in line with her views or the views of her party, but that she had to \u201cfollow the laws and regulations\u201d. <\/p> Then a statement on the Icelandic government website said that the licence was issued \u201c\u2026 based on a precautionary approach and reflects the government\u2019s increased emphasis on the sustainable use of resources\u201d. They contradicted themselves \u2013because, in my view, there is zero justification for Iceland\u2019s whaling.<\/p> It is by no stretch of the imagination beneficial to Iceland\u2019s economy \u2013 indeed, according to Iceland\u2019s Left-Green Movement, whaling activities have a negative financial impact. Whale watching, on the other hand, contributes an impressive \u00a320 million to the economy every year. <\/p> More importantly, its appalling brutality and cruelty \u2013 laid bare in an official report by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority in 2022 \u2013 is blatantly in contravention of the country\u2019s own Animal Welfare Act.<\/p> Iceland is one of three countries continuing to hunt whales in defiance of world opinion and the International Whaling Commission\u2019s 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling (the others are Norway and Japan). Since 2003, under an official \u2018reservation\u2019 against the whaling ban, it has killed no fewer than 876 fin whales and 653 minke whales \u2013 under its own self-allocated quotas.<\/p> Public and political support for whaling does appear to be waning. A poll in June found that 51% of Icelanders are against whaling (29% are in favour). And Iceland\u2019s former Prime Minister, Katr\u00edn Jakobsd\u00f3ttir, who stood down in April this year, also expressed her concerns in an interview with the Icelandic newspaper Stundin<\/em>: \u201cI have grave doubts that whaling off the Icelandic coast can be considered sustainable from an environmental, social and economic perspective.\u201d<\/p> Meanwhile, Japan recently announced that it will start hunting fin whales <\/a>in the North Pacific (with a self-allocated quota of 59 in 2024). This is in addition to an annual quota of 25 sei whales, 142 minke whales<\/a> and 150 Bryde\u2019s whales<\/a>. <\/p> Japan has also just launched a colossal \u00a337.5 million \u2018factory ship\u2019, paid for with a government loan, to assist with its controversial whaling operations (smaller, catcher vessels bring the dead whales back to the factory ship for processing and freezing). <\/p>