Iceland Suspends Whaling for Now, and Maybe Forever

This week Iceland's government declared there would be no whaling this summer, at least until the end of August. The decision, based on animal welfare concerns, could mean the brutal practice has finally come to an end.

Those concerns include the fact that “the killing of the animals took too long,” according to a government press release. A report by the Food and Veterinary Authority on the fin whale hunt informed the decision to suspend, and included horrifying video of a whale’s agonizing hunt for five hours.

“I have made the decision to temporarily stop whaling in light of the unequivocal opinion of the professional council on animal welfare,” said Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries. “The conditions of the law on animal welfare are inescapable in my mind, if the government and license holders cannot guarantee welfare requirements, this activity does not see a future.”

He says “temporarily,” but it could be the beginning of the end for whaling in Norway. The nation’s one whaling company, Hvalur, had previously suggested it was getting out, as the gruesome hunt had become less profitable of late. Iceland's whaling season normally runs from June to mid-September, and it is questionable whether Hvalur will go out so late in the season when the ban is lifted.

 Under current regs, Iceland’s quotas allow taking 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales per season, but catches in recent years have dropped as the public loses its taste for whale meat. Iceland, Norway, and Japan are the only remaining whaling countries in the world, and all three have come under intense, worldwide criticism for the practice. In Iceland, the atrocity could be over at last.

 You’re next, Norway and Japan.

Photo credit: Golli