Whaling is back in fashion in Iceland. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
For the most part, the world has moved on from whaling. There are a few countries, however, that are ignoring the moratorium that other countries have agreed upon. Iceland is one of them. In a big leap backwards, the Icelandic government decided that it would issue a license to hunt 128 fin whales in the coming year.
The move comes after a much-celebrated announcement in 2023 that Iceland would suspend whaling practices. At the time, the government alluded that it was unlikely it would ever resume whaling, but, as they say, things change. Just a few months later, it reversed course and allowed whaling again. A chorus of boos could be heard from around the planet, but the powers-that-be were deaf to them.
“The world has been watching Iceland, waiting for its government to end whaling once and for all. While the numbers and quota period are significantly reduced, slaughtering 99 more whales makes no sense,” Patrick Ramage, Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said in a statement sent to IFLScience. “It’s hard to fathom how and why this green light to kill 99 fin whales is being given.”
In all, 99 fin whales are allowed to be killed in the Greenland/West Iceland region, with another 29 whales in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands region.
Here’s quick history lesson from an older article about Iceland’s whaling industry… just in case you aren’t aware of just how terrible and unnecessary it is in this day and age:
“Way back in the day, we hunted all kinds of whales almost to extinction. In places like Greenland and Alaska, whale meat and blubber helped the indigenous people get through the long, cold winters. Whale meat is full of vitamins A, C, and D, and it’s rich in niacin, iron, and protein, which are all tough to get when you’re living with just a few daylight hours and everything is covered in snow. What they didn’t eat, they used for lamp oil, tools, clothing, and sleds, among other things.
In Japan, whaling is steeped in history. During the second World War, whale meat was one of the most important parts of their food supply. Whalers all over the world hunted whales for their oil, too, because it was, for a while at least, used in lamps, candles, and even in margarine and vehicle fluids like motor oil. The cosmetic industry used it too, and the commercial whaling industry blew up. But then, since we’re a short-sighted species, we pretty much killed most of them in the throes of a killing spree.
But after a while, it became pretty apparent that the reality of whaling is, to put it lightly, absolutely barbaric. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a global moratorium on commercial whaling. While most countries happily signed on, a few did not: Norway, Japan, and Iceland. Since the IWC’s power isn’t formal or binding, those countries were within their rights to do so, but the rest of the world was pretty horrified. The ban came into effect, though, after a major report published by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority in May 2023 that suggested whales are often subjected to long and agonizing deaths at the hands of Icelandic sailors.”
So with that little bit of awfulness firmly in your head, let’s get back to why, exactly, the Icelandic government might have decided to hunt fin whales again, which are an endangered species.
The license to kill was awarded to the country’s last remaining whaling company, Hvalur hf. According to Sharon Livermore, Marine Conservation Program Director at the IFAW, it’s a power issue.
“The whaling issue in Iceland is all about power. Kristján Loftsson, who runs Hvalur hf., is an incredibly powerful and wealthy individual. That is the essence of why commercial whaling is [continuing],” Livermore explained to IFL Science.
Surprisingly, only 51 percent of Icelandic people were opposed to the whale hunt. Whaling is part of Iceland’s history, and viewpoints built over generations can be hard to change. It’s more than half, I suppose… but still. Interestingly, the conception that the consumption of whale meat is a tradition in Iceland, it’s pretty rare. According to the The Animal Fund, only about 2-3 percent of Icelandic people actually eat whale meat. Tourists eat a bunch of it, though, believing that they’re engaging in some kind of ancient cultural thing. But the rest of the whale meat is exported to Japan.
With any luck, Iceland will return to the trajectory it was on in 2023, but for the time being, whaling, at least for a powerful company, is back in style.
