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Dominica announces new protections for sperm whales

Dominica has placed almost 800 square kilometers of sea off the west coast of the...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...
Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
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  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
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Port River dolphins

New report reveals 100,000 dolphins and small whales hunted every year

When you hear the words ‘dolphin hunts’ it’s likely that you think of Japan or...

Minke whale hunts stop in Iceland

Iceland’s commercial hunt of minke whales has ended for this year. The common minke whale is the...

Japan set to resume commercial whaling

Reports from Japan suggest that the government they will formally propose plans to resume commercial...

End the whale hunts! Icelandic fin whaler isolated as public mood shifts

Here’s a sight I hoped never again to witness. A boat being scrubbed and repainted...

Australian Government to block Japanese whaling proposal

Japanese Government officials have reportedly confirmed that they will propose the resumption of commercial whaling...

Did Icelandic whalers really kill a blue whale?

*Warning - this blog contains an image that you may find upsetting* They say a...

Icelandic whalers breach international law and kill iconic, protected whale by mistake

Icelandic whalers out hunting fin whales for the first time in three years appear to...

Pregnant whales once again a target for Japanese whalers

Figures from Japan's whaling expedition to Antarctica during the 2017/18 austral summer have revealed that...

Doubts remain after Icelandic Marine Institute claims slaughtered whale was a hybrid not a blue

Experts remain sceptical of initial test results issued by the Icelandic Marine Institute, which indicate...

Icelandic fin whale hunting to resume

Iceland’s only fin whaling company, Hvalur hf,  announced today that it will resume fin whaling...

Norway increases whaling quota despite declining demand

Norway's government has announced an increase in the number of minke whales that can be...

Norway's whaling season begins

April 1st saw the start of the whaling season in Norway. Despite a widely-accepted international moratorium...

Icelandic whaling report raises concerns

A long-anticipated report into the economic impact of Icelandic whaling has been released and raises a number of concerns.  Commissioned by the Icelandic government’s Ministry of Industries and Innovation, which includes the pro-whaling Fisheries Ministry, the report is authored by the University of Iceland’s Institute of Economic Studies, and concludes that whaling is of overall benefit to the economy and does not impact tourism.

According to Oddgeir Ágúst Ottesen, an economist at the Institute of Economic Studies, whaling created ISK 1.7 billion ($14.1m/ £10.8m) in revenue in 2017. “We evaluated this and looked at all the positive and negative aspects and when everything is put together it’s economically advantageous to hunt whales” Oddgeir stated.

A number of key elements in the report are alarming, including the claim that the whale hunts could be expanded to include other species, such as sei whales, humpback whales and sperm whales.

The argument used by whalers across the globe that ‘whales eat fish so we need to kill more whales to protect our fish stocks for human consumption’ is repeated in the report. Otteson states that “Whales eat seven to eight times [as much as] what we fish. And that eating has a great impact. Whale populations are increasing very much and whales’ impact could increase … the conclusion was that, yes, fish stocks benefit from the fact that whale populations are reduced.” The report also suggests that if fin and minke whale stocks (the two species currently targeted by whalers) were reduced by around 40%, this would benefit fisheries by more than 13 billion ISK (over £83 million).

However, the argument that whales have a detrimental effect on human fisheries activities has been debunked many times and whale scientists, increasingly agree that healthy fish stocks – and indeed the overall health of our ocean – are dependent on healthy whale populations. WDC has long championed the concept of whales as ‘ecosystems engineers’.

Oddly, after stating that whales eat too many fish, the report nevertheless then goes on to raise concerns that whale watching – a hugely popular and economically-important industry for Iceland which even the report acknowledges was worth ISK 3.2 billion (£20.5 million) in 2017 – might potentially disturb whales while trying to feed. 

The report is intended to feed into a wider government review which will be concluded in coming weeks. Back in August 2018, the Icelandic prime minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, called for a thorough review of Iceland´s whaling, including socio-economic and animal welfare aspects.

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