- The Icelandic government has resumed whaling after a summertime ban.
- International Fund for Animal Welfare in Iceland: This year will be the last for Icelandic whaling.
- New rules: without electricity, hunted off Iceland within 25 meters during the day time only.
The Icelandic government has resumed whaling after a summertime ban, allowing hunting to restart under stringent new rules. There are barely a few weeks left in the whaling season and only one business, Hvalur, is still hunting whales off Iceland.
Opponents, though, are incensed at the change of heart. Svandis Svavarsdottir, the minister of fisheries and foods, said she agreed with the majority of Icelanders that whaling should halt but that there were legal restrictions based on the license that her predecessor had issued earlier this year.
Icelandic whale hunting
By the end of September, Iceland‘s summer whaling season usually draws to an end before it gets too windy and dark.
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Iceland, this year will be the last for Icelandic whaling, and the government is united in calling for the following measures to bring whaling to a halt permanently.
According to the new rules, fin whales can only be hunted off Iceland within 25 meters (80 feet) of the boat, there cannot be a calf present, the hunt must be conducted during the day, and electricity is not permitted.
Everyone involved should be well-trained, and they should use the appropriate tools and procedures. Whaling is no longer profitable, and the more strict restrictions will make hunting much more expensive and challenging.
There are no compelling arguments in favor of whaling, according to attorney Katrin Oddsdottir of the Icelandic Nature Conservation Association, and it is to Iceland’s disgrace that one business, led by Kristjan Loftsson, still intends to carry on.
To stop hunting from starting up again, an injunction had been sought, and an increasing number of filmmakers had signed a petition opposing whaling.
