Iceland grants permission to kill 426 whales

Iceland grants five-year permits to companies to hunt hundreds of whales in its waters each year .

Iceland's Ministry of Food and Agriculture announced this week that it has issued permits to catch 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales annually during the hunting season from June to September, according to IFL Science . The permits are valid for five years and are renewable annually, with 20% of the unused quota rolling over to the following year.

The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth, after the blue whale. (Photo: NOAA).

Fin whales are caught by Hvalur hf, Iceland's largest commercial whaling company, while minkes may be caught by a trawler owned by Tjaldtangi ehf. Fin whales are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Measuring up to 25 metres (85 feet) long, they are the second largest animal on Earth by length, after the blue whale. Minkes are the smallest whale species , measuring around 7-9 metres (23-30 feet) long. While they are not endangered, many experts have expressed concern about the way they are hunted, similar to fin whales.

The Icelandic government stresses that exploitation of living marine resources in Iceland is subject to strict restrictions and total catch limits are set on advice from the Marine Research Institute, based on assessments by the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Council.

However, environmental experts and animal welfare groups have described the decision as a "disaster for conservation" and said it was a step back from ongoing conservation efforts in Iceland. "The research shows that whaling is cruel. There is no humane way to kill a whale in the ocean," said Sharon Livermore, director of the Marine Conservation Program at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

A few years ago, Iceland appeared to abandon its controversial whaling policy. In June 2023, Icelandic authorities halted the whaling season a day before it was due to start by suspending fin whale hunting until the end of the summer. The abrupt decision was made after a report by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority found that whaling often results in a slow, painful death for the animals.

However, in June 2024, the Icelandic government revealed that it had granted permission to the company Hvalur hf to kill 99 fin whales in the Greenland/West Iceland area, along with 29 whales in the East Iceland area. Apart from Iceland, only two other countries, Norway and Japan, continue to hunt whales commercially.