Iceland bans whaling

Iceland plans to stop issuing a license to kill whales for commercial purposes from 2024.

Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Svandis Svävarsdottir, said whale hunting does not bring significant economic benefits to the country on the island, while being ineffective due to the decline in whale numbers in the seas off the island. Some large foreign stores, in turn, refuse to cooperate with Icelandic fishermen due to the negative attitude towards these fisheries.

She added that the government intends to conduct a comprehensive review of the industry in the near future, and if there are no strong arguments for the continued existence of whaling, fishing licenses will not be issued after 2023 either.

Representatives of the whaling industry criticized Svandez’s comments.

“I don’t know how the government came to the conclusion that there is no economic benefit from whaling, and I think that is their personal opinion, not the official position of the government,” said Christian Loftsson, head of whaling at Hvalur hf.

 

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