Iceland begins commercial whaling

**4me2** · 17th October 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Iceland begins commercial whaling

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=416 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website
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Whaling ships have been gearing up for commercial hunting

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Iceland is to resume commercial hunting of whales, the BBC has learned.
Icelandic ships will take nine fin whales, an endangered species, and 30 minke whales each year.
In a statement, the fisheries ministry said Iceland was dependent on living marine resources, and would keep catches within sustainable limits.
Norway is the only other country to hunt commercially; most are bound by a 20-year moratorium. Currently Iceland hunts minkes for "scientific research". 
The scientific plan will conclude at the end of the 2007 season, the government said.
Iceland maintains local stocks are high enough to permit some hunting, despite the endangered status of the fin.
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We believe it's time for a new agreement on cetaceans, and this just proves it

Dr Sue Lieberman, WWF

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"The total stock size of central and north Atlantic minke whales is close to 70,000 animals, of which around 43,600 are in Icelandic coastal waters," said the government's statement.
"The number of fin whales in the [area] is estimated at around 25,800 animals.
"The catches are clearly sustainable and therefore consistent with the principle of sustainable development."
Whales and fish
Rumours of a resumption have been circulating for some weeks, and a local company Hvalur hf has, according to newspapers, been outfitting a processing plant and staffing a whaling ship.
The resumption will be greeted with dismay by conservation groups, alarmed by the passing of the first pro-hunting resolution in 20 years at this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting.
"We are surprised and disappointed," said Arni Finnsson from the Iceland Nature Conservation Association (Inca).
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Guide to whale species


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"There is no market for this meat in Iceland, there is no possibility to export it to Japan; the government appears to have listened to fishermen who are blaming whales for eating all the fish.
"This decision is giving the finger to the international community."
The Icelandic government had become frustrated with IWC negotiations on the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), a protocol designed to re-introduce commercial hunting under strict international catch limits, said Rune Frovik from the High North Alliance, a group representing whalers, sealers and fishermen in high latitude countries.
"When Iceland rejoined the IWC in 2002, they said they would not resume commercial whaling before 2006; they also said they would not resume as long as there was progress on the RMS.
"But at this year's IWC meeting, the process stopped - there was no progress."
Legal moves
Iceland gave up commercial hunts when the global moratorium was introduced in 1986, and stopped all whaling in 1989.
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</TD><TD class=sibtbg>THE LEGALITIES OF WHALING
Objection - A country formally objects to the IWC moratorium, declaring itself exempt
Scientific - A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits'; any IWC member can do this
Aboriginal - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Having left the IWC in 1992, it rejoined in 2002 stating a "reservation" to the moratorium; and the circumstances surrounding its rejoining may leave its decision to resume commercial hunting open to legal challenge.
Countries stating a reservation at the moratorium's inception are allowed to hunt commercially, though Norway is the only one that does.
"Anti-whaling nations at the time Iceland rejoined said the rejoining was illegal because it hadn't taken the reservation when it left the IWC," said Sue Lieberman, director of the global species programme at WWF International.
"The view of anti-whaling countries will, I predict, not change - they believe that Iceland's reservation is not legal - so we, and I believe they, will argue that Iceland's commercial whaling is in contravention of the IWC." Where any legal challenge could go is another matter - there is no procedure for dispute resolution within the Commission. "It is a completely flawed treaty in that regard," said Dr Lieberman. "We believe it's time for a new agreement on cetaceans, and this just proves it."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6059564.stm

**CzarJunkie** · 17th October 2006

Originally Posted by 4me2

"The total stock size of central and north Atlantic minke whales is close to 70,000 animals, of which around 43,600 are in Icelandic coastal waters," said the government's statement.
"The number of fin whales in the [area] is estimated at around 25,800 animals.
"The catches are clearly sustainable and therefore consistent with the principle of sustainable development."

The population of Iceland is 296,737, that's clearly a sustainable figure. We should start hunting those fuckers. I'll make a start by harpooning that cunt Bjork.

**wonkyfox** · 17th October 2006

I cant believe that here we are in the 21st century, and some countries still feel the need to hunt whales.....

**CJCROCKO** · 17th October 2006

Originally Posted by 4me2

"There is no market for this meat in Iceland, there is no possibility to export it to Japan; the government appears to have listened to fishermen who are blaming whales for eating all the fish.

well who are going to pay to hunt them then, surely if they have no commercial value there is no point hunting them ...

**Mule** · 22nd October 2006

They caught the first one today.

**Nikki** · 22nd October 2006

read this in the national rag the other day

**beansontoast** · 22nd October 2006

Originally Posted by 4me2

The resumption will be greeted with dismay by conservation groups, alarmed by the passing of the first pro-hunting resolution in 20 years at this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting.

I've been reading about this. Japan has effectively gained the majority vote by getting non-whaling countries in places like the carribean to vote with them in exchange for financial aid & development of their ports & harbours. That's why the 20 year anti-whaling moratorium can be voted out.

I also read that areas where marine mammals were hunted out of existence in the past haven't been repopulated after the end of hunting. This was said to prove that the mammals had made their own cultures & communities in those areas and those had been made extinct.

**TwoPlAnKs** · 23rd October 2006

farmfoods is better anyway

i dont know much about whales and the surrounding controversy around catching them but i see no need to take any wild animal from its wild habitat

i eat meat and find vegetarians to be annoying bastards but i eat meat that is cooked on farms that treat animals fairly, and animals who are bred to be slaughtered. farms that increase the total population of a particular species.

i dont see much else that whales can provide that we cant get from a better source, as in one that doesnt involve killing animals or that can be got from animals who are bred on farms.

**Nikki** · 23rd October 2006

was on the radio yesterday as well as in the papers, stating that they have caught there first one, and there is upset about it all in different parts of the world