Iceland Urged To Rethink Increased Whaling Quota
On Tuesday, seven countries issued a letter to Iceland asking the nation’s fisheries minister to rethink the sixfold increase to its whaling quota.
Ambassadors to the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Finland met with Minister of Fisheries Steingrimur Sigfusson on Friday to discuss the issue.
“We know the attitudes of these states and there were no threats involved,” said Sigfusson, according to the Iceland Review.
“But we discussed many things. The ambassadors for example raised awareness of the fact that roughly half of all tourists who come to Iceland come from these seven nations,” Sigfusson said.
Iceland and Norway are the only two countries that allow whaling for commercial purposes.
In 2007, Iceland accounted for two percent of the world’s total whale catch, said the Iceland Review.
"We are writing to you today to express our governments’ extreme disappointment in the decision of your predecessor to issue a quota for 150 fin and 100 minke whales to be harvested in Icelandic waters," the ambassadors wrote in a letter to Sigfusson obtained by AFP.
Last month, Einar K. Gudfinnsson, outgoing Minister of Fisheries, issued a whaling quota for up to 150 fin whales and 100 to 400 minkes in Icelandic waters for a five-year period.
"We applaud your interest in re-evaluating this decision," they said in the letter dated February 12, adding: "We call on Iceland to reconsider this decision."
"It is critical that the continuation or expansion of Iceland’s commercial harvest or international trade in whale meat does not undermine goodwill or hamper progress in resolving issues pending before the (International Whaling) Commission," the letter reads.
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