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Iceland Set to Halt Commercial Whaling From 2024

6th February 2022
A fin whale sighted off West Cork in 2019
A fin whale sighted off West Cork in 2019 Credit: Pádraig Whooley/IWDG

Falling demand for whale meat has prompted Iceland to announce and end to commercial whaling from 2024, as RTÉ News reports.

The move will leave Norway and Japan as the only countries that hunt whales for commercial purposes.

In an article published in the Morgunbladid newspaper, Icelandic fisheries minister Svandis Svavarsdottir said: “There is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this activity.”

Despite having sizeable annual quotas for minke and fin whales, neither of Iceland’s two main licence holders have hunted whales for a full season since 2018 — and only one has been killed in the past three years.

Meanwhile, among other issues affecting exports, Japan’s resumption of whaling has all but eliminated demand for such meat from the Icelandic fishery.

Iceland’s relationship with the whales in its waters was documented in a 2020 film that followed an Irish Whale and Dolphin Group expedition in search of humpback whales, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Published in Marine Wildlife, Fishing
MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!