Animals Right Groups Call Iceland’s Issuance Of License To Kill 128 Fin Whales This Year “Inhumane and Disappointing”

(Photo : Getty Images/Joseph Prezioso / AFP)

The last whaling company in Europe has been given permission by Iceland to slaughter over 100 animals this year, defying expectations that the practice would be discontinued following a short moratorium due to cruelty concerns last year.

Animal rights organizations called the announcement "inhumane" and "deeply disappointing."

Iceland's Decision

Kristján Loftsson's Icelandic business Hvalur will now be allowed to kill 128 fin whales during this year's hunting season. Just 24 fin whales were killed last year as a result of new rules that delayed the whaling season and a government-commissioned investigation that revealed harpooned whales might take up to two hours to die.

In a report published in May 2023, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority calculated that 67% of the 58 whales that were captured by vessels under its observation either passed away or instantly lost consciousness. However, it stated that two whales were shot four times before they died, and that 14 whales were shot more than once.

Subsequently, officials declared that whaling may continue under more stringent guidelines for hunting techniques and closer oversight.

Aside from Japan, Iceland is the second nation to permit the resumption of fin whaling this year.

The government of Japan suggested last month including fin whales-along with three other whale species-on an authorized capture list.

Fin whales, the second-largest mammal in the world, are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list as vulnerable to extinction. Their population has increased since hunting was outlawed in numerous nations in the 1970s.

The minister of food, fisheries, and agriculture of Iceland, Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, granted the permit, stating that her choice did not necessarily align with her party, the Left-Green Movement.

Dangerous Precedent

Activists said that a recent report by Mast, Iceland's food and veterinary authority, had not demonstrated any discernible improvements in animal welfare for the 2023 hunt compared with the previous year, despite the installation of new regulations aimed at reducing suffering.

"It's hard to fathom how and why this green light to kill 128 fin whales is being given. There is clearly no way to kill a whale at sea without inflicting unthinkable cruelty," said Patrick Ramage, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Experts claim the decision undermined international conservation efforts and created a "dangerous" precedent for commercial whaling worldwide.

Whaling was put on hold by Iceland's former minister of fisheries following an investigation that found the 2022 hunt violated the nation's animal welfare laws because the whales died too slowly.

According to the Mast study, some harpooned whales waited up to two hours to die, raising doubts about whether killing huge whales could ever satisfy goals related to animal welfare.

An expert working group that was later established to investigate whether the hunt might be changed to comply with welfare rules came to the conclusion that hunting techniques could be improved.

The efficiency of killing whales in 2023 appeared to be higher than in 2022, but a Mast analysis of the whale hunt from the previous year found that the difference was not statistically significant-possibly because fewer animals were killed in 2023. In 2022, 148 whales were hunted.