The Icelandic media are reporting that the single whaling firm on Iceland plans to resume hunts for Fin Whales this year. Government has announced that the quota would be 150 Fin Whales this year (less than last year, but then none of it was used last year).
A new conservation/welfare NGO, Friends of the Whales, opposes the whaling and makes interesting remarks about the legality of the Icelandic government’s position:
“We want to make it clear that continued authorization for whaling violates Iceland’s legal obligations, harms Icelandic nature, and causes animals suffering that is unacceptable in a civilized society. In addition, whaling unnecessarily damages Iceland’s reputation on the international stage. We demand immediate action.”.
The organisation points out that Iceland’s reservation regarding the decision of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on the zero quota is legally questionable with regard to Articles 19 and 20 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and states:
“If the reservation were deemed incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty as it has been amended, Iceland could be considered fully bound by the ban on whaling. In such circumstances, issuing hunting permits could involve the risk that Iceland would violate its obligations.”
If an organisation said that in the UK I would expect a legal challenge to follow – if one does in Iceland then I hope it will include a crowdfunder which would accept donations from abroad.
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Two points, Mark, are worth adding here:
1. The great whales are the only animals that are routinely killed using a device that, after being driven to the thoracic cavity, explodes. Yes, a grenade goes off inside the animal’s body. It’s not very effective and even the industry proponents admit that 20% of whales are not immediately killed, with some taking 2 hours to die.
2. The UK Government’s 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy includes the objective to ‘champion high animal welfare standards around the world; promoting robust standards nationally and internationally’ and to work with ‘international partners bilaterally to build a shared understanding of animals as sentient beings [and] emphasise the importance of phasing out low welfare practices’. This strikes me as an opportunity, nay an obligation, for the government to start working on the whaling nations to STOP killing whales.