iceland

Iceland ends commercial whale hunt

Posted by jossc — 24 August 2007 at 5:28pm - Comments

Iceland's senseless resumption of commercial whaling has now been suspended

In a setback to the whaling industry worldwide, Iceland's fisheries minister has just announced he will not issue further commercial whale-hunting quotas.

Iceland announced last year a return to commercial whaling and a quota of 30 minke whales and nine fins. But with virtually no market in Iceland and fears of contamination making Japan unwilling to purchase North Atlantic whale meat, the hunt has been a disaster. Since its introduction last year, Icelandic whalers have killed only seven minkes and seven fin whales, haven't made public the results of contamination testing on the whale meat, and can't seem to convince anyone to buy their product.

Article tagged as: fin whale, iceland, IWC, minke whale, oceans, whaling

Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am

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Fingers crossed - it's IWC 59!

Posted by jossc — 24 May 2007 at 10:38am - Comments

IWC 59: how the voting's going

It's time for us whale lovers to hold our breath and cross our fingers yet again as we watch developments at the 59th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, now underway in Anchorage, Alaska.

For the past few years the IWC, charged by the United Nations with protecting whales, has been the focus of serious lobbying by some whaling nations to allow a resumption of commercial whaling - suspended since 1986 following a dramatic decline in the number of great whales worldwide.

Article tagged as: 59, iceland, IWC, japan, oceans, whales, whaling

Endangered whales dumped in landfill site

Posted by jossc — 26 January 2007 at 2:17pm - Comments

A fin whal carcass rots at an Icelndic whaling station No sooner has Iceland granted permits for some of it's fisherman to resume commercial whaling than they discover, big surprise, what informed opinion has been telling them all along - namely that they would struggle to find any market for the meat.

Article tagged as: fin whale, iceland, oceans, whaling

Iceland dumps whale meat in landfill site

Last edited 23 January 2007 at 9:00am

23 January, 2007

Endangered whales - hunted, stockpiled and left to rot on a rubbish dump

The Icelandic government's claims of sustainable whaling were harpooned this morning, after Greenpeace activists revealed that around 200 tonnes of meat and blubber from endangered fin whales are still in storage, waiting to be tested for chemical contamination and a further 179 tonnes of bones and entrails have been dumped in a landfill site.

Article tagged as: iceland, IWC, oceans, press releases, whales, whaling

Whaling - the story so far

Last edited 11 January 2007 at 5:23pm

Greenpeace activist in front of an Icelandic whaler

A Greenpeace volunteer in front of an Icelandic whaler

Commercial whaling during the last century decimated most of the world's whale populations. Estimates suggest that between 1925, when the first whaling factory ship was introduced, and 1975, more than 1.5 million whales were killed in total.

Article tagged as: CITES, iceland, IWC, japan, norway, oceans, whale sanctuaries, whales, whaling

Iceland sinks UN moratorium on bottom trawling

Posted by jamie — 24 November 2006 at 7:04pm - Comments

The news that the UN moratorium on bottom trawling has sunk to the metaphorical, erm, bottom is grim enough but when you hear that it was all down to one country, it's just bloody depressing. And the culprit? Step forward Iceland, proud whaling nation and now ocean floor destroyer. Thanks guys.

But I can't put it better than Adele over on the Making Waves blog. There's real rage for you.

Article tagged as: bottom trawling, iceland, moratorium, oceans, UN

Deep-sea protection frozen by Iceland

Last edited 24 November 2006 at 1:31pm

23 November, 2006

Ocean floor life remains at risk from bottom trawling as a result of Iceland's decision to block a UN moratorium

UN negotiations to adopt a moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling were torpedoed today, as a small number of influential fishing nations led by Iceland put the interests of their fishing fleets above other countries, the consensus of the marine scientific community and conservationists.

Article tagged as: bottom trawling, iceland, marine reserves, UN

Iceland announces a return to commercial whaling

Last edited 17 October 2006 at 8:00am

17 October, 2006

The decision by Iceland to grant a commercial license to hunt whales makes no economic sense and should be retracted immediately said Greenpeace today.

Article tagged as: iceland, press releases, whaling

Iceland slammed after killing almost 40 whales

Last edited 18 August 2005 at 8:00am

18 August, 2005

Iceland's annual whale hunt has stopped for this year after killing almost 40 minke whales.

The so-called 'scientific' hunt has faced fierce criticism from Greenpeace, who have pointed towards the damage the hunt is causing to Iceland's international reputation and growing tourist industry. The whale hunt was worth an estimated US$4million at its peak, while whale-watching alone attracts over 80,000 tourists and is worth almost US$20million a year.