Iceland’s whaling fleet is killing fin whales again

Iceland has opened fire yet again on the fin whale, a baleen whale second in size only to the blue whale. Early on Sunday, 22nd October, 2006, the first of a self-determined quota of nine fin whales was landed. On the Monday, the second was killed… After a 21-year-old cease fire, the Icelandic government issued a licence to the owner of a whaling company, Kristjan Loftsson, for a resumption of commercial whaling, despite the fact that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) had imposed a hunting ban for commercial purposes. The mood of Icelandic people, however, is in no way on the side of the whalers, tells us IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare. In addition to the protection provided by the IWC, the fin whale enjoys a protected status through CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and the IUCN (the World Conservation Union).

Iceland’s manoeuvre to by-pass the so-called ‘moratorium’ was simple. In 1992, as a protest against the ban on whaling, Iceland left the IWC – and rejoined in 2002 with the proviso that it would be stating a formal reservation to the moratorium. Because this re-entry with the option of not accepting the moratorium was rather flimsy, the application was rejected by a majority vote in 2001. In 2002, however, it was passed with a majority of only one vote – Iceland’s, despite the fact that Iceland wasn’t a member. In the meantime, Japan, with the help of development aid, had also succeeded in winning over several small island states to whaling.

Up to now, the Icelandic government had only allowed the killing of minke whales killed for scientific purposes, as in Japan. Since 2003, 160 of the nine-metre-long minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales, have been killed for research – and then still delivered to the blubber knives for commerce. In 2006, the minke whale came under fire again. Yet Iceland, like other whaling nations, have problems finding a market for the meat. Hardly anybody in Iceland wants to eat it. Japan has announced that it has no interest in importing Iceland’s whale meat as it has enough of its own. What to do with the supposed delicacy which could, moreover, be contaminated? What’s the point of it all?

“The argument that whales eat too much fish is rather far-fetched,” says Petra Deimer, a marine biologist and President of the Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals (GSM). “Before the beginning of commercial whaling over one hundred years ago, there were ten times more large whales than today. Surely the whales would have eaten all the fish back then…” The blame lies entirely with the fishing industry and its world-wide over-fishing. “”It is high time”, continues Deimer critically, “that fishing quotas were reduced and to see things as they are: a massive ecological encroachment on the world’s largest ecosystem – and to do something about it”.

Iceland is cutting off its nose to spite its face. In the meantime, business is booming for a bloodless industry with whales: whale watching. Around 90,000 tourists visited the island and its natural treasures last year, providing this young industry with a turnover of almost 20 million Euros. According to the Director of Iceland’s whaling museum and President of the “Icelandic Whale Watching Association”, profits from modern adventure tourism are about eight times larger than those from Iceland’s whaling during the 80s. Whaling can only act as a deterrent, as has been proved by the scores of cancelled bookings.

Hans-Jürgen Schütte

Photo: C;GRIMSFILM/GSM grimsfilm@grimsfilm.is
The first fin whale shot by Icelandic whalers after a 21-year-old cease fire.