Iceland Stops Whale-Hunting Quotas After Low Demand
Date: 27-Aug-07
Country: ICELAND
Author: Audbjorg Olafsdottir
Iceland's fisheries minister, Einar K. Guofinnsson, told
Reuters this week it made no sense to issue new quotas when the
present quota period expires on Aug. 31 if the market for whale
meat was not strong enough.
"The whaling industry, like any other industry, has to obey
the market. If there is no profitability there is no foundation
for resuming with the killing of whales," he said.
Iceland announced last year it would allow up to 30 minke
whales and 9 fin whales to be hunted, controversially ending a
ban in place since 1986.
But they have killed just seven minke whales and seven fin
whales because of slack demand for whale meat and products.
"I will not issue a new quota until the market conditions
for whale meat improve and permission to export whale products
to Japan is secured," said Guofinnsson.
"There is no reason to continue commercial whaling if there
is no demand for the product."
Buyers of whale products demand thorough testing to ensure
food safety. In addition, without an export agreement with
Japan, a huge source of buyers is taken out of the equation.
Stefan Asmundsson, an officer at the ministry of fisheries,
said negotiations for market access to Japan were ongoing.
"We are talking to the Japanese government but so far we
have not reached a conclusion on how best to secure the health
and quality of the products," he said. "Hopefully this will
clear up soon as the uncertainty is not good for anybody."
Whalers had celebrated the decision to allow them to resume
a traditional custom despite protests from some two dozen
anti-whaling countries, including the United States.
They are now frustrated with the government's stance and say
they should be allowed to keep hunting to develop the market.
"In my opinion the minister should not have any say on
whether there is a market for our products or not," said Gunnar
Bergmann Jonsson, who leads a minke whaling association. "How
are we supposed to find markets if we don't have a product?"
