The Icelandic Fisheries Ministry has declared that Iceland will resume commercial whaling with a catch of 30 minke whales and 9 Fin whales. George McCallum explains the implications both nationally and internationally:
“Iceland will become only the second country to openly conduct commercial whaling under International Whaling Commission (IWC) objection and this may very well lead to further nations following suit.
Obviously, Iceland may very well wish to open up international trade in the whale products obtained, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to achieve this. Iceland currently exports small amounts of whale meat to the Faroe Islands ( The Faroe islands are a self-governing region of Denmark). The Danish Foreign Ministry wrote in 2003 that the “CITES Convention does not apply to the Faroes for the time being.”
Surfacing Minke whale. One of the two species Iceland will begin to commercially hunt. For wildlife photographs visit www.whalephoto.com.Iceland’s whaling commissioner Stefan Asmundsson also stated that “There is free trade within that area and whale products are simply one item therein.”
The Fisheries ministry also noted ” Any international trade in Icelandic whale products will be conducted in accordance with Iceland’s obligations under international law.”
The decision is certain to raise the hackles of anti-whaling countries and anti-whaling NGO’s, indeed, the first reactions to the decision have already been publicised on anti whaling NGO websites.
One such comment from Greenpeace states:
“Iceland has no market for whale meat, but they do have a huge and far more valuable market for whale watching, ” said Greenpeace campaigner Frode Pleym.
“Instead of investing in a one-man campaign to rejuvenate an outdated, unnecessary industry, that can only damage the reputation of the country internationally, Iceland should be capitalising on the value of a growing industry of watching and studying whales.”
Claims that the hunt is sustainable cannot not be credible, since nine of the 39 whales that are to be targeted are endangered Fin whales.”
Surfacing fin whales. One of the two species Iceland will begin to commercially hunt. For wildlife photographs visit www.whalephoto.com.Greenpeace omit to note that the population of fin whales in the central Atlantic is estimated at 25,800 fin whales and that by any stretch of the imagination, a catch of 9 fin whales is not going to effect the sustainability of the central Atlantic population.
When Iceland re-joined the IWC in 2001 with an objection to the moratorium, they stated “As a part of the reservation, Iceland committed itself not to authorise commercial whaling before 2006. Thereafter such whaling would not be authorised while progress was being made in negotiations regarding the IWC’s Revised Management Scheme (RMS).”
They also note, ” At the IWC’s Annual Meeting in 2005 Iceland warned that no progress was being made in the RMS discussions. No objection was raised at the Annual Meeting to Iceland’s statement. At this year’s IWC Annual Meeting, Iceland’s understanding was reconfirmed as the IWC generally agreed that talks on an RMS had reached an impasse. Therefore, the two limitations attached to Iceland’s reservation with respect to the so-called moratorium no longer apply.
Accordingly, Iceland’s reservation is now in effect and Iceland has the legal right to resume sustainable whaling. This puts Iceland in the same position as other IWC members that are not bound by the so-called moratorium, such as Norway.”
The covers will come off the harpoon guns on Icelandic whaling vessels (image from a Norwegian vessel). For photographs visit www.whalephoto.com.The chickens are finally coming home to roost in regards to the RMS “game playing” within the political plenary arm of the International Whaling commission. Iceland’s decision to resume commercial whaling may very well force anti-whaling governments to finally come to the table to deal with any genuine compromise proposals as to the real world implementation of the RMP and RMS.“
There was also comment from Japan with the Director of International Negotiations for the Fisheries Agency of Japan, Mr Morishita, congratulating Iceland for taking a bold and courageous step in the advancement of sensible management for marine living resources.
“This should come as no surprise to the world. When Iceland joined the IWC in 2001, it said it would resume sustainable commercial whaling if there were no progress on an international management regime for sustainable whaling. There has been no progress at all in that time and this has led Iceland to take unilateral action,” he said.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.