Today 26 governments made an official protest (called a 'demarche') to the Icelandic government, caliing on them to reassess their current whaling operations, and end commercial whaling.
The countries making the protest were: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, The Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The United Kingdom, The United States of America and Uruguay.
Iceland's previous administration's Fisheries Minister arbitrarily granted a huge quota of both minke and fin whales for commercial hunting, leaving the new government with a bit of a headache. Not only is commercial whaling supposed to be banned (and Iceland is a member of the International Whaling Commission), but fin whales are listed as endangered species. Fins, being the second only in size to blue whales, were dramatically overexploited by commercial whaling last century, and their numbers crashed perilously low. These 27m long giants are found roaming around the world's oceans (indeed those in Iceland may well be ones you have seen in UK waters) but prefer cooler waters.
Iceland's whaling season for this year has ended now, with a total of 125 fins and 79 minkes being killed in 2009.
Ironically – there is no market for fin whale meat in Iceland, but the whalers hope to establish a trade with Japan. Now, that shouldn't be possible (there's a ban on commercial whaling, and a ban on the trade in endangered species, remember?) but the regulations controlling our oceans are so weak that there are loopholes big enough to steer a whaling fleet through! By merely taking out 'objections' and 'reservations' to the bans, Japan and Iceland can circumvent them. And let's not forget – Japan sets off to hunt whales under the guise of 'science' in the Southern Ocean every year – and that's an internationally-recognised whale sanctuary.
So it's understandable that nations get upset that international agreements are so frequently and flagrantly flouted.
Another irony is that there's no demand in Japan for the meat either. Japan already has stockpiles of whale meat which it can’t shift, so there’s really no reason for them to import it unless they are just doing so to give the impression that there is demand and acceptance for commercial whaling internationally.
But clearly the biggest kicker is for Iceland itself. Reeling from economic catastrophe, whaling is not a solution to Iceland’s woes, it can only make them worse. Tourism is increasingly essential to Iceland's economy, and whale watching is one of the fastest growing sectors. Iceland’s international reputation, and its appeal as a destination, are at risk from its continued whaling. And of course there is a clear clash between watching and killing whales. Whale watching is the industry Iceland should be defending, and the only truly sustainable way of 'utilizing' the whales!
So, let's hope that Iceland heeds the call from its international counterparts, and puts an end to its commercial whaling operations once and for all – after all you can watch a whale many, many times, but only kill it once.
