Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf plans to resume hunting for fin whales this summer after a two-year hiatus. The last whaling season was 2015.
The company has a quota of 161 animals this year, in increase on the quota of 155 in 2015. The commercial fin whale hunt was licensed in 2009 following a ban of more than 20 years, during which the company kept vessels maintained against the day when the hunt would again be allowed to take place.
Iceland allows hunting for minke whales, carried out by smaller coastal vessels and with the meat sold onto the domestic market, and this is separate from the fin whale hunt for which there is virtually zero domestic demand.
Hvalur hf has made extensive efforts to export the products from its whale hunts to Japan since 2009, as transporting whale products is a complex and problematic exercise as virtually no ports are willing to handle it.
According to reports from Iceland, Hvalur hf plans to process nutritional supplements and gelatin from its fin whale catches.
There has been concerted opposition to the whale hunt and the US has threatened economic sanctions in the past, while a petition directed specifically at Hvalur hf gathered more than a million signatures and hacktivist organisation Anonymous has also hacked Icelandic websites to highlight the whaling issue.
Public opinion in Iceland has been increasingly negative towards the fin whale hunt while around 50% of Icelanders are reported to remain in favour of the small-scale minke whale hunt.
