Photo credit: Greenpeace

Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)

Introduction: The fin whale is the second largest mammal in the world (after the blue whale). They have a distinct ridge along their back behind the dorsal fin, giving the whale its nickname “razorback.” The lower right jaw is bright white while the lower left jaw is black.

Hunting method: The spear-drift whaling had been practiced in the old days in which whale hunters would strike a whale with a marked spear for claiming a rightful share of the carcass later.

In the present, once the target whale is spotted, a 90-mm cannon with a grenade tipped harpoon is fired at the whale. The caught whale is secured to the side of a harpoon ship with rope and later towed to a shore station where the caught whale is processed.

Anti-whaling pressure: The pressure imposed against the commercial whaling has occurred in differed forms; formal and informal pressure.

The formal opposition against Iceland’s whaling industry varied over the years including diplomatic negotiations and/or tension, condemning the resuming of fin whaling after a two year break, or listing fin whales as threatened species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list or under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I. Moreover, the strike of Iceland’s scientists union meant no experts would be available to conduct research aboard whaling vessels. The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling.

The actions taken by the NGOs and activists varied. Most of taken actions were peaceful such as chaining themselves, online petition against the trading of Icelandic fin whale, and/or creating awareness among consumers through “Don’t buy campaign” to urge consumers not to buy whale meat or other seafood produced by listed producers or traders who are involved with whaling.

Unfortunately, there have been some violent actions taken against or the activists including firing harpoons from the whaler ship over the protestors (1978). Another reported incidence in 1986 occurred when activists sabotaged a whaling station by destroying machinery and computers.

Enforcing the international regulations in accordance with CITES could be represented by several incidents whereas the whale shipments have been confiscated during the transport to Japan.

Conflicting opinion: The whalers in Iceland believe that the level of whale hunting has little effect on the overall population. The whaling company states that there is no reason they can’t continue hunting whales for eternity by sustainable management of the hunting. Fishery authority in Iceland recently announced new fin whale quotas which allow up to 770 to be killed in the next five years.

Export of whale meat to Japan: It is just to give some quantified information, in 2009; the whaling company caught 125 fin whales and planned to export up to 1,500 tons of whale meat to Japan. The cancellation of fin whale hunts in 2011 and 2012 in Iceland was because Japan, the principal market, was suffering an economic downturn following the earthquake and the devastating tsunami in March 2011. The whaling as well as the export of whale meat to Japan resumed as of July 2013.

Sources: Nature World News, The Guardian, Greenpeace, The DODO