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Iceland to propose whaling ban, leaving Norway and Japan isolated
NBC News • • world
Key Points:
- Iceland’s government plans to submit a bill in February to permanently ban commercial whaling, which would leave Norway and Japan as the only countries continuing the practice.
- The bill comes amid years of protests from animal welfare activists and public support, with ethical, veterinary, legal, and conservation arguments backing the ban.
- In the current hunting season, Iceland has caught 80 fin whales out of a quota of 150; fin whales are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Iceland, Norway, and Japan are the only countries to have conducted commercial whaling in recent years despite a 1986 international moratorium, with Japan resuming whaling after leaving the International Whaling Commission in 2019.
- The moratorium still permits Indigenous communities in regions like Greenland and Alaska to hunt whales for nutritional and cultural reasons.
