In an announcement that has made conservationsists very happy, Iceland‘s fisheries minister, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has signalled plans to end commercial whaling by 2024 saying there is little economic justification to continue once current quotas expire in 2023.
Humane Society International (HSI) has campaigned for decades to bring an end to commercial whaling. With the news from Iceland, Japan and Norway will remain as the last two countries that still participate in the cruel commercial whaling industry.
HSI would be very pleased to see the Government of Iceland join countries like Australia who attend meetings of the International Whaling Commission to uphold its global moratorium on commercial whaling and invest in the conservation of whales.
Nicola Beynon, Head of Campaigns for Humane Society International, said, HSI is so pleased that Iceland is ending commercial whaling. ‘Once Iceland formally retires its harpoons we will be another step closer to making commercial whaling history, and hope that we will see similar commitments from Norway and Japan in the near future.’
Indigenous peoples fishing grounds endangered by vested interest groups