Iceland Breaks Whale-Hunt Ban, Kills Fin Whale

John Roach
for National Geographic News

October 23, 2006

Icelandic whalers killed an endangered fin whale Saturday, breaking a
20-year moratorium on commercial whaling in the Scandinavian country.

Television images Sunday showed a 65-foot-long (20-meter-long) fin whale being towed into an Icelandic harbor. The whale was harpooned in the North Atlantic about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of the country (map of Iceland).

Fin whales are the second largest of the great whale species, growing up to 78 feet (24 meters) long in the Northern Hemisphere and weighing up to 71 tons (64 metric tons), according the American Cetacean Society based in San Pedro, California.

Minke whales, smaller cousins to fin whales, average about 10 tons (9 metric tons). (Get whale photos, video, facts, and more.)

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists fin whales as an endangered species, but Iceland's Ministry of Fisheries says there are sufficient fin and minke whales in its coastal waters to support a sustainable harvest.

According to the fisheries ministry, there are an estimated 25,800 fin whales and 43,600 minke whales in the central North Atlantic.

The ministry announced on October 17 that Iceland's commercial whalers would take 9 fin whales and 30 minke whales by August 31, 2007.

The country had previously stopped whaling commercially in 1985; it ended scientific hunts four years later but resumed them in 2003.

Currently, Norway is the only other country that allows commercial whale hunts. Japan hunts whales as well under the heading of scientific research.

"Cruel and Unnecessary"

Conservationists are condemning the killing.

Joth Singh, director of wildlife and habitat protection for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, called the hunt "cruel and unnecessary."

In a media statement, he said that "the Icelandic government has bloodied not only its pristine waters but its international reputation."

The conservation group says that whale-watch tourism has more economic benefit to Iceland than does the sale of whale meat.

Kieran Mulvaney, a whaling consultant to Greenpeace in Washington, D.C., agrees. He says the group is disappointed at Iceland's decision and concerned about the rationale for the hunt.

"On the face of it, it doesn't make any sense," he said. There is little market for whale meat in Iceland, he adds, and Japan, the biggest consumer of whale meat, already has a stockpile in cold storage.

The rationale behind the hunt appears to be a misguided approach to fisheries management, Mulvaney says.

"This is part of a global movement toward blaming whales for fish stock declines and managing or culling them to protect fish stocks," he said.

Ending the Ban?

Citing concerns over their fisheries, pro-whaling nations led by Japan have been pushing for some time to overturn the 20-year ban on commercial whaling.

At a June meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts, member nations voted 33 to 32 in favor of lifting the ban. That was short of the 75 percent needed for approval. (Related story: "Majority Votes to Legalize Whaling" [June 19, 2006].)

Mark Simmonds, director of science at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society based in Wiltshire, England, told New Scientist magazine that Iceland's resumed commercial whale hunt could add pressure to end the moratorium.

Greepeace's Mulvaney, however, says such a plan may backfire.

"This alone is not going to lead IWC to overturn the moratorium," he said. "If anything, it may actually stiffen the resolve of non-whaling countries."

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