Iceland to stop commercial whaling
WWF demands worldwide stop to whaling
Frankfurt - Due to the lack of consumers for whale meat, Iceland has announced a stop to commercial whaling. The WWF welcomes this decision as long overdue: "We are relieved that Iceland has finally recognised the signs of the time and is stopping commercial whaling," says WWF whale expert Volker Homes. "But that's only the first step. Under the guise of science, whaling continues, allegedly for research purposes. This must come to an end as well, not only in Iceland, but worldwide." Apart from Iceland, Norway and Japan hunt whales as well and take advantage of weaknesses in the international whaling moratorium that has prohibited whaling since 1986. According to the WWF, almost 29,000 whales in total fell victim to whaling between 1986 and 2006. In the same period, at least 7,000 whales have died for the permissible "scientific" whaling without a single important finding concerning the protection of endangered whales becoming known.
Finally, the end of commercial whaling in Iceland was a victory of the consumers, says the WWF. "Hardly anyone wants products extracted from whales. In Japan, for example, about 2,700 tons of whale meat were stored in refrigerated storage buildings in 2004, so that the government had to distribute the meat to school cafeterias." From a total of 35 tons of meat for which 36 of the endangered minke whales had to die, 23 tons could not be sold in Iceland in 2003. Apart from the increasing boycott of whale meat, Icelandic tourists have also played an important role: many vacationers cancelled their trip to Iceland after the country announced it was going to fish a total of 30 minke whales and nine finbacks in 2006 and 2007. Whale watching is a growing tourist attraction and a source of income for the country.
The WWF hopes that Iceland's decision will increase the pressure on Norway and Japan to follow suit. Both countries have been rigorously acting against the international whaling moratorium and trying each year at the conference of the International Whaling Commission, IWC to enforce the complete lifting of the ban to hunt whales.
Further information about whales at:
http://www.wwf.de/unsere-themen/artenschutz/bedrohte-tiere-und-pflanzen/walbeobachtungen
WWF Germany,
Picture: Finnwalfluke © WWF-Canon / Gustavo Ybarra
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