During last June, Iceland began commercial whaling for the year 2009 which is part of a hunting program that consist of whaling quotas of 100 minke whales and 150 fin whales per year for the period 2009-2014. This program was one of the last measures approved by the previous government prior to the culmination of this administration earlier this year.

The alarming numbers rise to 93 fin whales and 63 minke whales caught during this summer in Iceland, being the largest commercial whaling in the North Atlantic in decades. These actions clearly threaten conservation efforts from countries in favor of non-lethal use of cetaceans, considering that these species make large migrations, so their home range is not restricted to Iceland.

Although the current Fisheries Minister of Iceland Steingrimur J. Sigfusson, publicly said to be against commercial whaling, it seems that the whaling legislation, which goes back to 1949, does not allow him to cancel the decision imposed by the previous government in the short term.

The populations of fin whales around the world are included within the category Endangered (EN) species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, while minke whales are classified as Near Threatened (NT) in the IUCN Red List, meaning that without specific conservation measures they would be in the Endangered category

Many countries and environmental organizations are against whaling. Considering that within the European Community, this activity is prohibited, the attitude of Iceland is surprising, since it aspires to join the Community.

Fish exporting companies in Iceland said to be largely affected by the measure because its major importers belonging to European Union countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, expressed that if Iceland continues whaling, they would stop buying fish to this country. This slow down on imports, would significantly reduce the sales market for cod, whose catch quota for this year was increased from 30.000ton to 130.000ton, a measure also sanctioned by the previous government.

Currently, a new legislation on commercial whaling is being prepared to be submitted to the Parliament. There is still uncertainty about whether the government will continue these activities in the future or not.


Fuentes:
IUCN red list
WDCS Latinamerica