Iceland will officially end the controversial practice of whaling in two years once the current quotas expire. It is one of three countries that still allow commercial whaling in the world after Japan and Norway.
Whaling is rooted in ancient practices whereby indigenous peoples used the giant carcasses for blubber, food and other resources. Over time, careless overhunting has led marine mammals down a path of extinction. The International Whaling Commission was established to help repair some of this damage.
According to CNN, the country’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Svandis Svavarsdottir said on Friday: ‘There are few justifications to authorize whale hunting beyond 2024’. The current hunting quota permits the hunting of 217 minke whales and 209 fin whales as reported by The Guardian. However, hunters have only killed one minke whale in 2021 during this period of time, indicating that the hunting no longer provides any economic benefit for the country.
A main reason for this is that Japan, after previously being a major market for whale meat from Iceland has now started up its own commercial whaling again since 2019. In addition to this, the coronavirus pandemic negatively affected meat-processing plants and with the expansion of protected waters, ships have to go out further to hunt. According to My Modern Met, all of these factors have contributed to the decrease in demand for whale meat.
Svavarsdottir added: ‘Why should Iceland take the risk of continuing fishing that has not yielded economic benefits, in order to sell a product that is in low demand?’
Many conservation groups are praising this news. Vanessa Williams-Grey from Whale and Dolphin Conservation told BBC: ‘This is obviously hugely welcome news… and not before time. Icelandic whalers have killed hundreds of whales in recent years, despite almost zero domestic demand’.
There is more good news for marine species as Hawaii has recently become the first state to ban shark fishing in its waters.
Picture: Getaway gallery
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