Latest Whaling in Iceland Stories

Commercial whale hunting begins Monday in Iceland, following the government's grant of a small quota of 40 minke, a number far short of the 100 requested by whalers.The decision had been expected a month ago following requests from whalers for a speedy ruling, but disagreements within the government delayed the matter for weeks before the government formally gave the go-ahead Monday morning. Whalers said they would launch as soon as possible.Environmental groups said the ruling would further...

FRIGATE BAY, St. Kitts -- Japan and its allies edged closer toward their goal of resuming commercial whale hunts as the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting drew to a close Tuesday with accusations of vote-buying from opponents.The pro-whaling nations narrowly passed a symbolic resolution during the gathering to support ending a 20-year-old ban on commercial whaling and seemed poised to expand their influence at next year's meeting in Anchorage, Alaska."This was a historical...

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (Reuters) - The Norwegian and Icelandic prime ministers welcomed on Monday a recommendation by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to relax a ban on commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland are the world's main whaling nations. They say stocks have recovered since a 1986 ban. "This is positive and goes in our favor," Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde told a news conference on the Arctic island of Svalbard after an annual Nordic prime ministers'...

By Michael ChristieFRIGATE BAY, St. Kitts and Nevis -- Greenland asked an international whaling body on Saturday to examine whether it could extend whaling by its Inuit hunters to endangered humpbacks and bowheads, alarming environmentalists.Anti-whaling nations attending an International Whaling Commission, or IWC, meeting in the Caribbean island state of St Kitts and Nevis said they were opposed to the proposal given the fragile state of most whale species.Environmentalists also said they...

By George NishiyamaTOKYO -- The Japanese public no longer likes eating whale meat and Tokyo's argument that whaling should be maintained to meet consumer demand is a fabrication, a conservationist group said on Tuesday.Reflecting falling demand, domestic stockpiles of whale meat have been increasing, said the Tokyo-based Dolphin & Whale Action Network in a report written by freelance journalist Junko Sakuma."The Fisheries Agency continues to carry out whaling based on a fictitious...

By Michael ChristieMIAMI (Reuters) - An international whaling group this week is expected to try to chip away at a moratorium on commercial whaling that environmentalists say has saved the Earth's largest creatures from extinction.For the first time since whale-hunting was banned in 1986, pro-whaling nations led by Japan expect to have a majority at the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting in the Caribbean island state of St. Kitts and Nevis from June 16-20.Last year, Japan,...

CANBERRA -- Anti-whaling nations will struggle to stop a resumption of commercial whaling when the International Whaling Commission votes on the issue in June, Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell said on Thursday.Campbell said whaling nation Japan secured majority support at the last IWC meeting in South Korea in June 2005 for its plan to resume commercial whaling, but that not all the countries in favor turned up to the vote, so the proposal was knocked down."I really do think...

TOKYO -- Whale meat is back on the menu in a growing number of Japanese elementary and junior high schools, Kyodo news service reported on Tuesday.The board of education in Wakayama prefecture in western Japan, an area known as the birthplace of organized whaling in the country, is promoting the drive to put whale on school menus.The board provided some 1,657 kilograms of whale meat for more than 100 elementary and junior high schools in Kyoto, Osaka and Nara prefectures and Tokyo in January...

LONDON (Reuters) - Japan's stock of whale meat from hunting for scientific research is so large that the country has begun selling it as dog food, a leading marine conservation organization said on Friday. British-based charity the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said Japan's whale meat stocks had doubled over the past 10 years as it increased the number of animals it killed every year, despite a global ban on commercial hunting. "Whaling is a cruel activity and the fact...

LONDON (Reuters) - Japan's stock of whale meat from hunting for scientific research is so large that the country has begun selling it as dog food, a leading marine conservation organization said on Friday. British-based charity the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said Japan's whale meat stocks had doubled over the past 10 years as it increased the number of animals it killed every year, despite a global ban on commercial hunting. "Whaling is a cruel activity and the fact...