Iceland continues to draw fire for its whaling operations. In a recent action, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke certified to President Obama that Iceland’s commercial whaling and international trade in fin whale products is diminishing the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and urged the Government of Iceland to cease permitting commercial whaling.
Iceland killed 273 endangered fin whales in 2009 and 2010. Iceland has not harvested any fin whales so far in 2011, but the government continues to permit whaling and has issued a whale quota for the 2011 season. Iceland has continued to harvest minke whales in 2011. The IWC has in place a global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Iceland has significantly increased its whaling activities in recent years and resumed international trade in whale products. The United States strongly opposes Iceland’s defiance of the commercial whaling ban, and has repeatedly urged Iceland to cease international trade of whale meat.
source: NOAA press release
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