After Norway it is the second country to do so. Iceland had halted whaling altogether in 1990 but in 2003 resumed for what it called scientific reasons. The authority given allows whalers to hunt 30 minke whales and nine fin whales (endangered species) from Sept. 1, 2006 until Aug. 31, 2007. Whale Meat will be exported. Environmentalists claim Iceland and Japan invoke scientific reasons in order to exploit a loophole in the IWC’s provisions.
Fisheries ministry lawyer Asta Einarsdottir is quoted to have said
“We have seen a great change in the past two years regarding public attitudes towards eating whale... Restaurants (are) coming up with all kinds of new recipes, from sashimi to barbeque,”
She also insisted that the meat from this year’s catch has been “all but ordered up,”
To answer that Greenpeace is quoted to have said
“Iceland has virtually no market for whale meat. Whale tourism is worth much more in economic terms,”
Well there is no argument Whale tourism is any day better than Commercial Whaling.
Via: Discovery
