Iceland Says May Revoke Whaling Extension

Kristin Bragadottir, PlanetArk 4 Feb 09;

REYKJAVIK - Iceland's new government said on Tuesday it might revoke a five-year extension to whaling of fin and minke whales passed just last week by its predecessor.

Iceland ended a 20-year ban on commercial whaling in August 2006, issuing quotas that ran through August 2007. After a temporary halt, the country resumed whaling in May last year, despite protests by environmentalists.

As one of its last acts before it resigned over an economic crisis, the center-right administration of Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced last week Iceland would allow whaling of fin and minke whales for another five years.

Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, who is also fisheries minister, told a news conference on Tuesday: "We agreed in a government meeting this morning to send a formal warning out to those with vested interests in whaling, saying that the recent decision of the ex-minister of fisheries about increasing the whaling quota for the next five years is now being reconsidered."

"We intend to make a policy statement about this issue in a few days."

Many countries and environmental groups oppose whaling, saying stocks are low after decades of over-hunting that only ended with the 1986 moratorium by the International Whaling Commission.

Icelandic supporters of whaling have said they seek to cultivate tradition in a responsible way while conservationists have argued that the whale-watching industry is equally, if not more, lucrative than hunting the mammals.

An internet poll published on the website of the Morgunbladid daily on Tuesday showed that 67.2 percent of the respondents said they were in favor of professional whaling while 41.1 percent said they thought the practice harmed Iceland's reputation.

(Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Two-thirds of Icelanders back whaling: poll
Yahoo News 4 Feb 09;

REYKJAVIK (AFP) – More than two thirds of Icelanders favour the country's return to commercial whaling and more than half would support an increase of its whaling quota, according to a poll published Wednesday.

Just over 67 percent of the 1,597 people questioned by the Capacent Gallup polling institute between January 29 and February 2 said they were either very or rather supportive of Iceland's commercial whaling.

Nearly a fifth of those polled, 19.7 percent, meanwhile said they were rather or very opposed to the practice, which was relaunched in 2006 after Iceland ended 16 years of adhering to an international whaling moratorium.

Iceland and Norway are the only two countries in the world that authorise commercial whaling. Japan officially hunts whales for scientific purposes, although the whale meat is sold for consumption.

The Capacent Gallup poll was published just a day after Iceland's new Fisheries Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson said he might revise a six-fold increase in the country's disputed commercial whale hunt set by the previous government a week ago.

The exiting government increased the quota on January 27, a day after tendering its resignation, to 150 fin whales and up to 150 minke whales, up from a previous quota of just nine fin whales and 40 minke whales per year.

When asked if they supported the quota increase, 56.9 percent of those surveyed for Wednesday's poll said they were very or rather supportive of the hike, while 30.6 percent said they were opposed.

The response was far less positive however when Icelanders were asked how the controversial hunt was affecting their country's image abroad.

Forty-one percent said whaling would hurt the country's reputation, while only 3.1 percent said it would help and 55.2 percent said it would have no impact.

As the North Atlantic island nation of 320,000 struggles to ward off national bankruptcy after its financial sector crumbled in October, most of those polled meanwhile said they thought the whaling industry could improve the economy and help curb its soaring unemployment rate.

Nearly 58 percent said the industry would create more jobs in Iceland while a full 61.2 percent said it would help boost the country's overall economy. Only 13.2 percent said they though the hunt would be detrimental to the job situation while 12 percent said it would have a negative impact on the economy.