Whaler Iceland Dimisses "Survival of the Cutest"

Simon Gardner, PlanetArk 27 Jun 08;

SANTIAGO - Whales are just like any other animal and deserve no special treatment, Iceland said on Wednesday, defending its whaling and dismissing what it called a Western "survival of the cutest" mentality.

Along with World No.1 whaler Japan and Norway, Iceland defies a 1986 moratorium on whaling, and assigns itself its own annual whale catch quota. It argues many nations act too emotionally on the deeply divisive issue.

"There is no reason to treat whales differently from any other animals," Stefan Asmundsson, Iceland's commissioner at the International Whaling Commission, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the body's annual meeting in Chile.

"Iceland does not subscribe to the principle of survival of the cutest. We subscribe to the principle of sustainable utilization," he added. "Sustainable utilization of animals is a recognized principle all over the world."

Shortly after he spoke, a lone protester locked himself to the doors of the Sheraton hotel where the conference is being held with a motorcycle chain, chanting "No more whaling. Japan, Iceland, Norway -- whale killers!" before police whisked him away.

Anti-whaling nations like Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and a host of Latin American nations on Wednesday decried Japan's circumvention of the moratorium and its annual catch of 1,000 whales for "scientific research".

'ICONIC ANIMALS'?

Iceland halted whaling in 1989 but resumed in 2003, and has given itself the right to catch 40 Minke whales this year for commercial purposes. It argues stocks of whales around its waters are sufficiently abundant to allow sustainable whaling.

"If you have a cultural preference not to eat whale meat, that's fine. I'm not saying everyone needs to eat whale meat, but it's a normal part of the diet in many parts of the world," Asmundsson said.

"Some countries like to treat whales in a different manner, basically saying some animals are more equal than others," he added. "Deer hunting is not considered to be a big thing in the same way as whaling is, but in both cases you are hunting mammals."

While ignoring the moratorium, Iceland, like Norway and Japan, has opted to stay within the International Whaling Commission, which conservationists put down to politics and diplomacy.

"Many countries, especially Western countries ... look at whales as somehow iconic animals, special animals that are outside the animal kingdom and cannot be treated as animals normally are," Asmundsson said.

"Opposition to whaling is very often presented as environmentalism. But if you are talking about opposition to a sustainable practice, there is absolutely no environmental factor against this kind of whaling. This is more to do with what you could call animal rights."

(Editing by Sandra Maler)


What's the Fuss? Whales Tasty, Profitable - Whaler
Simon Gardner, PlanetArk 27 Jun 08;

SANTIAGO - Reviled by conservationists, Icelandic whale meat exporter Kristjan Loftsson is unapologetic, saying anti-whaling groups and nations are neurotic and that whale meat is highly profitable -- and delicious.

Given a wide berth by many at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Santiago, in which anti whale catching nations spearheaded by Australia are separated from hunting nations Japan, Norway and Iceland by an ideological abyss, Loftsson cannot understand what all the debate is about.

"Those who speak loudest, the UK and US, Australia, they used to whale before but they couldn't manage their whales, so everything is gone. So they have no interest in this any more," Loftsson told Reuters in an interview.

"This is our meat in the ocean. But in Australia and New Zealand, they walk and farm on land," he added. "They are hypocrites. This is not about the whales, it's about politics."

Loftsson started out as a cook's assistant aboard a whale catcher aged 13 in 1956, and now runs a company that has four 50-metre (164-ft) whaling vessels.

He caught seven fin whales in 2006, which weigh around 40 tonnes on average each, and is hoping Iceland's government will raise its national quota to a total of around 35O whales -- around the number his company's catch averaged per year between 1948 and 1985.

FEEDING JAPAN

"There's plenty of demand, especially in Japan," he said, referring to the world's leading whaling nation, which has got around an international moratorium by killing hundreds of whales each year for what it says is scientific research.

Loftsson says he is resuming exports to Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy offered in restaurants and sold on supermarket shelves. Choice whale meat cuts can retail at US$50 to $100 a kilo (2.2 lb) in Japan.

Iceland, Norway and Denmark's Faroe Islands are other markets for Icelandic whale meat, but prices are far lower.

"Whales are just like any ordinary fish," he said. "But in Iceland the bottom line is it has to be sustainable. If it is sustainable you do it, and if it is not you stop. We also do that with fisheries, there's no difference."

"It tastes just like any ordinary, very good red meat. You can eat some of it raw. Depending on which loin (cut) of the whale, whale meat is most like tuna," he added.

Iceland halted whaling in 1989 but resumed in 2003, in defiance of a 1986 moratorium, and has given itself the right to catch 40 Minke whales, which weigh on average between 4-5 tonnes each, this year for commercial purposes.

It maintains stocks of whales in its waters are abundant and so justify the quota.

Loftsson was forced to idle his fleet in the interim, and focus on other interests in fishing.

"We were just sitting there," he said. "That's Icelandic politics. There are too many chickens in Iceland's politics, they don't have any guts."

Loftsson is accompanying Iceland's official delegation at the IWC meeting.

And aside from dodging the likes of Greenpeace and other anti-whaling enforcers like maritime conservation guerrillas Sea Shepherd Conservation International on the high seas, the biggest challenge he faces as a whaler?

"Whales rot very quickly after they have been shot, so there is a limit how far you can go out and you have to bring it back as quickly as possible," he said.

"No-one wants to buy stinking meat."

(Editing by Sandra Maler)