Iceland to resume commercial whaling
BREAKING NEWS: Iceland resumed commercial whale hunting this Tuesday (AP)
Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson told Iceland's parliament that Iceland's Ministry of Fisheries will begin granting licenses and permitting the hunting of nine fin whales and 30 minke whales before the end of August 2007. Licenses could be issued as early as today, and commercial hunting could officially begin this week.
Iceland, a country steeped in whaling tradition, originally complied with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban set in the 1980s, but has been hunting whales in the name of scientific research since 2003, in what environmental groups have considered an unfortunate loophole to the worldwide ban. Iceland also counts itself among a group of nations, including Japan and Norway, which passed an agreement to support the ending of the ban at this year's meeting of the IWC in June.
The resumption of whaling "is part of our main principle of sustainable use of all living marine resources," Asta Einarsdottir, a lawyer for the Ministry of Fisheries, told the AP. Einarsdottir also told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that whale meat caught for research purposes is finding a growing home market in Iceland.
"None of the planned catches involve any endangered or threatened stocks of whales. They only involve abundant stocks," reads a statement by the Ministry of Fisheries, obtained by the AFP. Environmental group Greenpeace vehemently denounces such claims, announcing in a press release that, "Claims that the hunt is sustainable cannot be credible, since nine of the 39 whales that are to be targeted are endangered fin whales."
Economically speaking, Greenpeace believes that Iceland's decision to grant commercial licenses to hunt whales makes no sense.
"Iceland makes more money with whale-watching than whale-eating," noted Sack, who said that Greenpeace's response is to urge Iceland to capitalize on whale-watching and studying whales rather than commercial whaling.
In response to Iceland's announcement, Greenpeace is calling for all licenses to be revoked and is seeking support through an Iceland "Whale Tourism Pledge." Nearly 70,000 people have signed the pledge, which will go live later this week at www.greenpeace.org, promising to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling.
For full story, go to Iceland News or Associated Press News.
For Greenpeace's statement on the story, got here.
Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson told Iceland's parliament that Iceland's Ministry of Fisheries will begin granting licenses and permitting the hunting of nine fin whales and 30 minke whales before the end of August 2007. Licenses could be issued as early as today, and commercial hunting could officially begin this week.
Iceland, a country steeped in whaling tradition, originally complied with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban set in the 1980s, but has been hunting whales in the name of scientific research since 2003, in what environmental groups have considered an unfortunate loophole to the worldwide ban. Iceland also counts itself among a group of nations, including Japan and Norway, which passed an agreement to support the ending of the ban at this year's meeting of the IWC in June.
The resumption of whaling "is part of our main principle of sustainable use of all living marine resources," Asta Einarsdottir, a lawyer for the Ministry of Fisheries, told the AP. Einarsdottir also told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that whale meat caught for research purposes is finding a growing home market in Iceland.
"None of the planned catches involve any endangered or threatened stocks of whales. They only involve abundant stocks," reads a statement by the Ministry of Fisheries, obtained by the AFP. Environmental group Greenpeace vehemently denounces such claims, announcing in a press release that, "Claims that the hunt is sustainable cannot be credible, since nine of the 39 whales that are to be targeted are endangered fin whales."
Economically speaking, Greenpeace believes that Iceland's decision to grant commercial licenses to hunt whales makes no sense.
"Iceland makes more money with whale-watching than whale-eating," noted Sack, who said that Greenpeace's response is to urge Iceland to capitalize on whale-watching and studying whales rather than commercial whaling.
In response to Iceland's announcement, Greenpeace is calling for all licenses to be revoked and is seeking support through an Iceland "Whale Tourism Pledge." Nearly 70,000 people have signed the pledge, which will go live later this week at www.greenpeace.org, promising to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling.
For full story, go to Iceland News or Associated Press News.
For Greenpeace's statement on the story, got here.
Labels: Marine Biology, Science Stuff
posted by leptonyx at 17:47
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