Glimmer of hope for species protection: Iceland is considering banning commercial whaling

rtr | Iceland is considering banning commercial whaling. The government is currently reviewing various options for updating its whaling law, paying particular attention to the possibility of a permanent ban, the government's website said Wednesday. ‌Whaling in the island state has been causing protests from animal rights activists for years. If there was a ban, only Norway and Japan would continue to practice whaling commercially. The Icelandic government has its own majority in parliament.

In the current hunting season, which runs from June to the end of September, 80 fin whales were killed as of September 9, according to the animal welfare organization Humane World for Animals. This year the quota allows the catch of ‌150 animals. In 2024, an interim government granted the country's only remaining whaling company a license for five years.

Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only countries that have engaged in commercial whaling in recent years. They are opposing an international moratorium that came into force in 1986 to protect whale stocks. Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993, followed by Iceland in 2006. Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 to resume hunting in its own territorial waters.

The moratorium continues to exempt indigenous peoples in ‌certain regions such as Greenland and Alaska‌ from the ban because whaling plays an important role in their diet and culture.