Iceland resumes whaling - the facts

On 17 October 2006, Iceland announced its resumption of commercial whaling after threatening to do so for several years. Nine days later, Icelandic whalers killed a fin whale and to date many more other fin whales have also been slaughtered by this country. Fin whales are an endangered species and is the world's second largest animal after the blue whale and is listed on both the US Endangered Species Act and the World Conservation Union's Red List of threatened and endangered species. Centuries of whaling decimated the worlds whale populations and in the late 1970s and early 1980s some of these marine mammals were on the brink of collapse.

Fortunately in 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) passed a moratorium on commercial whaling, which is still in effect. Norway, Japan and the Soviet Union lodged objections to the moratorium, although Japan later withdrew its objection. Until the recent announcement and Iceland's actions, Norway was the only country to resume commercial whaling in 1993 under its formal objection to the moratorium. Iceland and Japan both kill whales for scientific research, with the meat eventually being sold commercially.

Since the institution of the moratorium, some whale populations have slightly recovered but some species including the fin whale, remain in serious jeopardy. Whalers estimate that some of these whale stoccks are in their thousands, however the reality is rather different. Firstly, these estimates are simply extrapolations of sightings surveys where only a relatively tiny number of whales were actually seen. Secondly, the whalers conduct these surveys with no independent observers to verify the number of sightings. Lastly, even if these estimates were remotely accurate, most whale populations remain at historic lows. They are still a tiny fraction of their former abundance and no one really knows what a viable breeding whale population size actually is. For example, blue whales have been protected for over 40 years yet their numbers remain at
around 1% of pre-whaling levels. Scientists believe this may be because their numbers have fallen below their capacity to recover and we may actually be witnessing the inevitable extinction of this majestic animal.

They also face other threats in their daily lives from toxic pollution, being caught fishing nets, massive over-fishing, climate change, and underwater noise. Any resumption of commercial whaling could tip the balance for many populations, even pushing entire species toward extinction.

The whalers want to overturn the global ban on commercial whaling this year, and they will succeed unless we can turn the tide.