Iceland Whaling Report Raises Concerns

Iceland is to continue whaling after a controversial report claimed each whale was worth more than the cash lost from people who cancelled holidays in protest.

But the move was slammed by critics who pointed out drug dealing and child pornography were also profitable, but that did not mean it was a reason to do them.

The report into whaling’s impact on the Icelandic economy was commissioned by the country’s Ministry of Industries and Innovation. The Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland carried it out.

Politicians were worrying that despite the large amount earned by the sale of whale meat mainly to Japan, they were losing out because some tourists were choosing not to come in protest at the country’s whaling industry.

Credit: CEN
Killed fin whales in Loftsson’s company

But the report rejected this, finding that whaling was economically advantageous for Iceland. Oddgeir Agust Ottesen, an economist at the Institute of Economic Studies, says that the industry created 1.7 billion ISK (10.9 million GBP) in revenue in 2017. 

According to the report, each whale hunted in Iceland between the years 2009 and 2017 created an average revenue of 16.4 million ISK (105,000 GBP), with the income mainly coming from meat being exported to Japan.

Iceland reportedly earned a total of 11.3 billion ISK (72.4 million GBP) between 2009 and 2017 by hunting 699 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus).

The report recommends increasing the regularity of the whale watching industry in Iceland as too many companies working in one area can affect the animals’ behaviour and feeding habits.

The head of PETA UK, Elisa Allen, told Central European News (CEN): “Drug dealing is profitable, as is child pornography, illustrating that making money is not a reason to defend the indefensible – and seeing these gentle giants hacked to pieces for profit should make any compassionate person feel sick”.

Credit: CEN
Killed fin whales in Loftsson’s company

Allen continues: “Reports show that 97 per cent of Icelanders don’t consume whale meat as part of their normal diet. Whales who are shot with weapons, including exploding harpoons, endure a prolonged and agonising death. All decent people outraged by the killing of marine life should fight this barbarism and shun the fishing industry, which ensnares countless whales, dolphins, and other marine animals in its nets”.

Iceland is one of the few countries which formally object the International Whaling Commission (IWC) 1986 ban on whale hunting.

In October 2006, the Icelandic government issued licenses for commercial whale hunting in addition to the continuing scientific programme despite the IWC’s objections.


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Story By: Bartosz Staszewski, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

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This Post Has One Comment

  1. Anita Lautsch

    I, for one, will NEVER visit this whale killing country. And I will make sure that EVERYONE I know hears of the atrocities that occur in Iceland regarding the harpooning of whales. If most of the whale meat is sent to Japan, the killing of whales by Iceland should be stopped because Japan has withdrawn from the IWC and will be harpooning and killing their own whales for meat, starting in July 2019. Harpooning whales has no place in our current times. It continues to be barbaric and horrifying, and the world is watching. Especially after 2 hybrid whales (contained endangered Blue whale) were killed by Iceland.

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