The Iceland Marine Research Institute has proposed a quota maximum of 200 fin whales for the next whaling season and a minke whale quota of 400 animals.

According to their proposals it will be safe to hunt 200 fin whales if the hunt is spread across the entire area populated by fin whales but if the whales are hunted in a limited area, in the traditional whaling zone west off Iceland, 150 animals will be killed. According to a recent North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) report, the fin whale stock is close to its original size. In 2003, the commission concluded that if 150 fin whales were to be killed west off Iceland every year for the next 20 years, the whales would still manage to reproduce and the size of the stock would remain stable.

Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Gudfinnsson said the government had not made a decision on continued commercial whaling, but added there had not been a change in whaling policy with the new administration. Gudfinnsson said a decision would be made after news had been received on whether the whale meat caught last season could be sold. He said if not and there is no market for the meat, whaling might automatically discontinue. Minister of the Environment Thórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir declared that she was against whaling in an interview recently published..

Iceland’s whaling policy set on October 17, 2006 is valid until September 1 2007.