Major Icelandic whaling company Hvalur has just announced that it will not hunt fin whales this summer, Mongabay reported.
This announcement comes after a controversial decision by the government of Iceland to allow the company to operate, despite a total moratorium on whaling since 1986 by the International Whaling Commission. Iceland is one of three countries that still allow commercial whaling, along with Norway and Japan, which recently expanded operations.
Hvalur cited the lack of demand from Japan as the reason it will not exercise its license to kill 209 fin whales this year. CEO Kristján Loftsson told Icelandic media Morgunblaðið that the price of Hvalur's fin whale meat in Japan is "unfavorable and is worsening," making it not commercially viable this year.
"The market for Icelandic fin whale meat in Japan has been struggling for years — there is both a declining demand and a large stockpile of surplus of imported meat that remains unsold — so a lack of market in Japan is nothing new," Sharon Livermore, director of marine conservation at the U.S. advocacy group International Fund for Animal Welfare, told Mongabay in an email. "It's clear that killing hundreds of whales a year is an economic and environmental loser."
Ending whaling would be a major win for the environment. These fascinating species are some of the most intelligent creatures on the planet, play a key role in regulating their ocean ecosystems, and are becoming increasingly rare because of centuries of whaling and the rapidly shifting climate. Ending their unnecessary hunting could help ensure that they are preserved for future generations.
Fin whale hunting in Iceland has already been an on-and-off proposition for the last several years. There was no commercial fin whale hunting from 2019 to 2021, and in June 2023, Iceland's minister of food, agriculture, and fisheries suspended the activity in response to a report about how much whales suffer after being harpooned. Hvalur and another company, Tjaldtangi, were granted permission to resume operations last December, only for Hvalur to issue this announcement.
However, minke whales are still being targeted.
"The news that Hvalur hf. will not hunt fin whales this summer could signal the beginning of the end for whaling in the country," U.K. NGO Whale and Dolphin Conservation said in an email to Mongabay.
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