Japan has recently purchased whale meat from Iceland, marking the first such imports in 17 years. The Japanese government approved the purchases in September and some of the meat has been put on the market since clearing customs.

An Icelandic company, by the name of Hyalur hf, claims that it exported over sixty tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan. The fin whale, the second largest whale, is internationally recognised as an endangered species but Japan have said it was not breaking the accord and considered the trade as "a deal between private companies".

A spokesman for Hyalur hf, also said that the recent export consignment was intended to “re-introduce fin meat to Japanese palates”. The whale meat trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but Iceland, Japan and Norway have all registered reservations, as the treaty permits, exempting themselves from the ban.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate launched a new global anti-whaling recently, commenting that what makes whaling even worse is the brutality of it all and the suffering that these majestic animals have to endure.