Iceland is one of the few countries that has not yet banned commercial whaling.
Iceland plans to stop commercial whaling from 2024, reports news agency AFP. The matter was announced by the country’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Svandís Svavarsdóttir on Friday.
“There is little justification for whaling to be allowed until 2024, when current catch quotas expire,” Svandís Svavarsdóttir wrote in the newspaper Morgunblaðið. He belongs to the Green Left.
According to Svandís Svavarsdóttir, whaling has little economic benefit.
In Iceland annual catch quotas are currently in force for 2019-2023. They allow 209 herring whales and 217 bay whales to be caught.
However, only one whale has been caught in Iceland in the last three years, the bay whale in 2021. In those years, two of the most significant licensed operators ceased whaling and one of them eventually stopped it altogether.
In the last peak period of 2018, 146 herring whales and six bay whales were caught in Iceland.
The herring whale is the second longest living animal species on earth right after the blue whale. The species is endangered. The bay whale, on the other hand, is one of the smallest whales, but it still grows to about 11 meters long.
Icelandic demand for whale meat has declined markedly since Japan again decided to allow commercial whaling in 2019. Japan is the most important market for whale meat in the world.
Whaling also became too expensive in Iceland as the closed area was extended along the coast and whalers had to go further and further out to sea. In addition, exports of Icelandic products have been hampered by stricter requirements for export products than for domestic products.
Coronavirus restrictions have also made it more difficult for companies to operate in Iceland.
Iceland has stopped commercial whaling in the past. However, the country started it again around the mid-2000s. In addition to Japan, whales are still caught for commercial purposes in Norway.
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