Iceland’s Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has suspended this year’s fin whale hunt until 31st August. The season had been due to start this week.
The decision follows on from a control report by the Food and Veterinary Authority on the treatment of whales during hunting which was submitted to the Ministry in May this year, and which concluded that the killing of the animals took longer than allowed by the principal objective of the Act on Animal Welfare.
Following publication of the report, the Food and Veterinary Authority tasked the Expert Advisory Board on Animal Welfare with evaluating whether this hunting can ever fulfil the objective of the Act on Animal Welfare.
The opinion of the Expert Advisory Board was submitted to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries on 19th June and its conclusion is that the method employed in hunting large whales does not comply with the Act on Animal Welfare.
According to the Ministry, in view of this conclusion, it is necessary to delay the beginning of the whaling season in order to examine whether it is possible to set out rules that can ensure that whaling will be carried out in compliance with the mandatory minimum standards set out in the Act on Animal Welfare.
‘I have decided to suspend all whaling operations in view of the decisive opinion of the Expert Advisory Board on Animal Welfare,’ Svandís Svavarsdóttir said.
‘In my opinion, the conditions of the Act on Animal Welfare are mandatory. This activity cannot continue in the future if the authorities and the licence holders can not ensure the fulfilment of the welfare requirements.’
This measure gives leeway to explore possible improvements and legal conditions for setting out further limitations on whaling on the basis of the Act on Animal Welfare and the Law on Whaling. The Ministry will use the coming months to seek the opinion of experts and licence holders.
Iceland’s controversial fin whale hunt is carried out by a single company, Hvalur hf, which operates two vessels and a processing plant. Catches are processed for export to Japan.
