BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

August 2020 BBC Wildlife 27

WILDOPINION

I

s Icelandreallygoingtostop

whaling?Hasit hungupits

harpoonsforgood?We’re

certainlyonestepclosertoa

permanentendtothehorrors

ofthepast– nowhaleshave

beenkilledinthelandoficeand

firefortwoyears– but,despitepress

reportstothecontrary,we’redefinitely

notthereyet.

Icelandis oneofthreecountries

continuingtomakea mockeryofthe

InternationalWhalingCommission’s

1986 moratoriumoncommercial

whaling(theothersareNorway

andJapan).Duringthelate1980s,

it killed 292 finwhalesand 70 sei

whales,undertheguiseof‘scientific

whaling’,beforestormingoutofthe

IWCin1992.Thenit rejoined 10

yearslaterandthistime,disgracefully,

wasallowedtotakeoutanofficial

‘reservation’againstthewhalingban.

It promptlyresumedcommercial

whalingin 2003 andhaskilledno

fewerthan 852 finwhalesand 653

minkewhalesintheyearssince.

Butwhydoit?Whyflyinthefaceof

somuchangerandoppositionfrom

therestoftheworld?It’scertainlynot

aboutmoney.Thelatestfiguresshow

thatwhalingrunsata loss(incontrast,

whalewatchingcontributesan

impressiveUS$15milliondirectlyto

theIcelandiceconomyandhasa total

economicimpactofUS$22million).

It’snotevenaboutfood.According

toa 2018survey,onlyabout2 percent

ofIcelandershadeatenwhalemeat

sixormoretimesovertheprevious

yearand 84 percentsaidthatthey

hadnevertastedwhalemeatatall.

It washeavilypromotedtotourists

asa ‘traditionaldelicacy’tohelpfill

the gap (I’ve seen people step off

MARKCARWARDINEisa frustrated and

frank conservationist.

TheconservationistdiscusseswhalinginIceland

and invites your thoughts on the subject.

MARK CARWARDINE

whale-watchboatsin

ReykjavíkHarbour,

thenwalkstraightinto

a restaurantandorder

grilledminkewhale).

Butmostwhalemeat

is exportedtoJapan.

Bynostretchofthe

imaginationcanit be

consideredtraditional

inIcelandeither

(Icelandersdidn’tstartcommercial

whalinguntil1948)andthereis

absolutelynoscientificevidencethat

whaleshavea significantimpacton

marketablefishstocks.

Sowhatis theappeal?Intruth,

whalingis moreaboutpatriotism

andpoliticalpoint-scoringthanit

is aboutwhales.It is easyforthe

Icelandicgovernmenttostompabout

defendingnationalprideagainst

unwelcomeforeignpressureover

somethingso‘insignificant’ (at least,

on the world stage).

Butwhathaspushedit tothe

brinkis economics.Inparticular,far

fewertouristsareeatingwhalemeat

(afteryearsofcampaigning);andthe

Japanesemarketis shrinkingrapidly

(thereis a growingstockpileofwhale

meatinJapan– notsurprising,given

thatonaveragetheJapaneseeatonly

aboutoneounceperpersonperyear).

Attitudesarechanging,too.Support

forhuntingwhaleshasdeclinedas

theincomefromwatchingthemhas

climbed.EventheIcelandicfishing

industryis nolongerwillingto

defendwhaling– it is moreinterested

inexportingfishtocountries that

disapproveofwhaling.

Therearetwowhalingcompanies

inIceland.IP-Utgerdhuntsminke

whalesandHvalurhfhuntsfin

whales.Bothhavebeenstruggling

financially.Earlierthisyear,IP-Utgerd

declaredthatit hadstoppedwhaling

forgood.Citingtheimpracticalities

ofsocialdistancingregulations,

andfinancialdifficulties,Hvalurhf

thenannouncedthatit wouldnotbe

whalingthissummer(forthesecond

yearrunning).Butfinwhalingin

Icelandhasbeensuspendedinthe

past,onlytoresume, so there are

noguarantees.

Theironyis thatif Icelandwas

toannouncea completeendto

commercialwhaling,insteadofnew

whalingquotas,it would be the toast

of the world.

MY WAY OF THINKING

Mark Carwardine

Whyyin

thefaceof

somuch

opposition

fromtherest

of the world?

S

T

WHATDOYOUTHINK?If you

wanttosupportMarkinhisviews

orshoothimdowninflames,email

[email protected]

Icelandicwhaling

companieskilled

hundredsoffin

whales in the 1980s.