Is this the kind of whale watching Icelandic whalers are considering? © Greenpeace/Axelsson
I've long since given up trying to apply any semblance of logic to the arguments for whaling, and the latest news from Iceland doesn't prove me wrong.
It appears that some of the commercial whalers have decided to diversify, into, er, whale watching - to show tourists what whaling is like. The public apparently won't be killing the whales, but allowed to stroke the harpoon and marvel at some bits of whales they cut up earlier.
I suppose in one way this is the whalers' equivalent of paint-balling, or clay-pigeon shooting. But in another it's much more insidious.
In truth the only 'sustainable use' for whales is whale watching and Iceland has been a major beneficiary of the growth in the industry. That's why whale watching trips are available around the country, from the capital Reykjavik to the picturesque town of Husavik – the self styled 'whale watching capital of the world'.
It was the whale watching operators and the tourist industry who were most concerned at Iceland's resumption of whaling, and with good reason: the whale-watching in Iceland depends on friendly whales and dependable sightings. Restarting the whaling industry was harpooning the hand that fed Iceland's tourist industry. Those conflicts have already come to a head more than once.
Yet with the collapse of Iceland's economy, you would be forgiven for thinking that tourist dollars were now even more important.
You'd be right. You'd also be right in thinking that Iceland's desire to join the EU would be a bit of a bumpy process if they were killing whales (which after all are supposed to be protected species in EU waters), although that doesn't currently seem to be a big concern for the new UK government...
Of course, from a distance, it's clear that this makes no sense. In Iceland however - which has a population only marginally bigger than the city of Cardiff - it's clear that radical short-term ideas have recently been very much in favour. Especially if they are spun as ways to help with jobs or the economic recovery (which, surprisingly, they always are!).
Hence we have had increases in fish quotas ignoring scientific advice, and of course the return to commercial whaling. Continued whaling doesn't benefit Iceland's reputation abroad, and puts two of its biggest sources of income (tourism and fish exports) at risk. And there is no economic sense in whaling either, with no domestic market and international trade (for which there is no real demand) only possible by riding roughshod over international conservation agreements.
Whale-watching in comparison, is a win-win situation. Undoubtedly that is exactly why it has been chosen by the whalers as something to undermine. But they do so at a potentially huge cost for Iceland.
