Reykjavik, Iceland
Icelandic whalers killed an endangered fin whale this week, breaking their 20-year compliance with a global ban on commercial whaling. The Icelandic government said that minke and fin whale stocks in the North Atlantic were healthy enough to withstand hunting. Environmentalists said that since there is little market for whale meat, the move is likely aimed at protecting Icelandic fish stocks. “This is part of a global movement toward blaming whales for fish stock declines,” said Kieran Mulvaney of Greenpeace. Norway has been defying the commercial ban all along, while Japan kills hundreds of whales a year and sells the meat in restaurants, but claims the cull is for scientific, not commercial, purposes.
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