Last October 2nd, the government of the United Kingdom, on behalf of 26 International Whaling Commission (IWC) member governments, submitted a formal diplomatic protest (known as “Demarche”) to Iceland in which dissatisfaction with the minke and fin whales commercial hunting recently ended is expressed. This protest is another sign of widespread discontent with the measure taken by the previous administration of this country that decided to give this whaling quota for the season 2009 and for five more years.

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay joined this protest that adds to other actions taken by different conservationists sectors in rejection of this hunt. We hope that this and other initiatives have some effect on Iceland’s whaling politics that, as expressed by the current administration, is under review.

Currently, the moratorium imposed by the IWC, of which Iceland is a member, bans commercial whaling and particularly one of the species captured, the fin whale is included within the category Endangered (EN) species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.


Fore more information:

www.iwcoffice.org
www.iucnredlist.org