Representatives of the Icelandic Government had meetings on whaling in Washington D.C. last Friday with the U.S. State Department and the offices of the Alaskan Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. The objective of the meetings was to react to the certification of Iceland by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under the so-called Pelly Amendment and to inform the U.S. Government and Congress about the Icelandic whaling policy. This week the U.S. President will take position regarding the certification letter of the Secretary of Commerce who recommended that diplomatic actions be taken against Iceland due to its whaling activities.
At the meetings, the Icelandic representatives, Tomas H. Heidar, the Commissioner of Iceland to the International Whaling Commission, and Hjalmar W. Hannesson, Ambassador of Iceland in Washington D.C., emphasized that Iceland´s whaling activities are fully lawful and its international trade in whale products in accordance with its international obligations. It was underlined that Iceland only conducts whaling from two abundant and healthy stocks in the North Atlantic, minke whales and fin whales, the whaling activities are fully sustainable and based on best scientific information. There was therefore no legal or scientific basis for the Pelly Amendment certification by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Consequently, there was no basis for the actions against Iceland stipulated in the certification letter.
Jon Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland, has expressed surprise and disappointment over the Pelly Amendment certification of Iceland. “The U.S. authorities are not consistent when they criticize Iceland for its fin whale hunting on the one hand and ask for the support of Iceland and other member States of the International Whaling Commission for their bowhead quota off Alaska on the other hand. Scientific information clearly shows that the Icelandic fin whale hunting is no less sustainable than the U.S. bowhead whaling“, Jon Bjarnason said today. It should be noted that the five-year U.S. bowhead quota is subject to approval by a 3/4 majority of member countries of the International Whaling Commission at its Annual Meeting in Panama in 2012.
