Iceland resumes commercial whaling

Iceland has resumed commercial whaling.

Iceland’s fisheries ministry said whalers could hunt 30 minke whales and nine fin whales in the period from Sept. 1 to August 31, 2007.

The ministry said “none of the planned catches involve any endangered or threatened stocks of whales. They only involve abundant stocks and are linked to Iceland’s overall policy of sustainable utilization of marine resources.”

There are about 43,600 minke whales in Icelandic waters. Fin whales in the central North Atlantic number around 25,800.

Iceland halted whaling altogether in 1990, but in 2003 resumed for scientific reasons.

Heimir Hardarson, marketing director of whale-watching company Nordur siglingar in northeast Iceland, said tourists have already started canceling trips to Iceland to protest against the resumption of whaling.

But Fridrik J. Arngrímsson, manager of the Association of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners (LÍÚ), told Fréttabladid that whaling will pay off, even if there is no market for whale meat.

Arngrímsson said whales in Icelandic waters compete with the fish for food, and that with so many whales, the fishing industry loses millions of dollars a year.

The European Union and the United States have also condemned Iceland’s decision to resume commercial whaling.