With the remaining days of his administration numbered, Iceland’s Prime Minister (and temporary Minister of Fisheries) Bjarni Benediktsson has issued five-year licences for fin and minke whaling.
Following the general election held last weekend, the strong likelihood is that Bjarni Benediktsson’s Independence Party will be out of government for the foreseeable future as three centre parties look to be in the running to form the next administration.
With this move, the Independence Party has acted to safeguard the interests of some of its staunchest supporters, and is set to trigger an international furore that the incoming administration and a new minister will have to deal with.
This is a stunt that has been pulled before, as a previous Independence Party administration issued whaling licences after a long hiatus in 2009 under similar circumstances, when the Minister at the time was just days away from handing over the ministry keys to his successor following a general election that put his party into opposition.
Whaling remains a hugely controversial issue, and a highly divisive one in Iceland – both in parliament and among the general public.
In response to applications for licences made in the post-election rush, the Ministry has now issued a five-year fin whaling licence to Hvalur hf, and a minke whaing licence to Tjaldtangi ehf.
NAMMCO advises that the annual take of not more than 161 fin whales in the East Greenland/Western Iceland area, and no more than 48 animals in the East Iceland/Faroe area. Iceland’s Institute of Marine Research has advised that the annual take of minke whales should not exceed 217 animals.
No fin whale hunt took place this year. 24 animals were caught in the 2023 season, and 148 on the 2022 season. Six minke whales were caught in 2018 and one in 2021.
