Fin-whale hunting has been called off for the 2025 season in Iceland, making it the second year running that the slaughter has been abandoned – to the relief of environmental campaigners.
“No fin whales will be killed this summer – this could be the beginning of the end for whaling in Iceland,” commented Whale & Dolphin Conservation (WDC).
Hvalur hf is by far the largest whaling company in Iceland, given free reign by the government to hunt more than 200 fin whales each season – but market conditions appear to be dictating otherwise.
“Given the current economic situation, Hvalur hf sees no other option but to stay docked and wait for better days,” said its CEO Kristján Loftsson. “The situation will be reassessed next year.”
According to Loftsson, inflation in Japan, where his company sells most of the whale-meat that is unwanted in most parts of the world, has rendered the trade economically unviable.
‘Huge victory'
“This decision marks a huge victory for whale conservation, especially after the outgoing Icelandic PM controversially issued a five-year whaling permit just this past winter,” says the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) aka Neptune’s Pirates.
Watson and the groups he has led have been actively campaigning against Icelandic hunting of fin and minke whales for the past 40 years.
In 2023 Iceland’s fisheries ministry temporarily halted whaling following allegations by campaigners that Hvalur was violating the country’s animal-welfare legislation, but it then allowed operations to resume under stricter conditions.
The CPWF believes that the latest decision by Hvalur is also linked to the resumption by Japanese whalers of fin-whale hunting in their home waters, as well as reports that Japanese government subsidies to the country's main importer of Icelandic whale-meat have failed to materialise.
“We believed this year’s hunt wouldn’t go ahead, and we’re thrilled that’s now a reality, saving up to 209 fin whales,” said Rob Read, COO of Neptune’s Pirates UK. “But the government can’t keep stalling. It’s time for Icelandic politicians to listen to the public and end whaling for good.”
Also on Divernet: Paul Watson jailed as Japanese kill fin whale, Home for Christmas: Danes free Paul Watson, Unwelcome whale news from Iceland + Marineland, Beginning of the end for whaling?
