Iceland, one of only three countries that still allow whale hunting, on Thursday issued permits to two whaling companies for the next five years until 2029, the outgoing government announced.
The decision was denounced by animal rights activists and environmental groups, who criticized the fact that it was made by a transitional government.
The permits allow the annual catch of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales during the annual whaling season, which runs from mid-June to September, said the government, which lost Saturday’s election.
Whaling permits are normally issued for a period of five years, but the last ones expired in 2023. The only remaining active whaling ship, the Hvalur, applied for and received renewals of its license every year.
Thursday’s decision was rejected in a joint statement from the Icelandic Environmental Association and its youth wing.
“Democracy is not respected and issuing permits violates the interests of the climate, nature and animal welfare,” they said.
The charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation has also challenged the permits.
“We are disgusted by the decision,” they said in a statement, also arguing that it was “highly unethical” for a transitional government to make such a decision.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation took a similar stance, criticizing what it called a “shocking abuse of power.”
The foundation’s founder, Paul Watson, is currently being held by Greenland authorities after being arrested in July in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous region.
He was arrested on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant accusing him of causing damage to a whaling ship in Antarctica in 2010 and injuring a whaling ship.
– Critical report –
Last year the country suspended whaling for two months after a government-commissioned study concluded that the methods used did not comply with animal welfare laws.
Monitoring by the government veterinary department found that the hunters’ explosive harpoons caused prolonged pain to the whales, with the hunt lasting up to five hours after they were harpooned.
The shortened 2023 season, which lasted just three weeks, ended with the death of 24 fin whales. The quota totaled 209 whales.
Another company hung up its harpoons for good in 2020, saying whaling was no longer profitable.
Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that allow commercial whaling.
They face fierce opposition from animal rights activists.
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