Icelandic whaling

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling and most whaling nations destroyed or repurposed their related vessels, but Japan and Norway persisted.

The Icelandic Hvalur whaling company picked up the practice again in 2006 and is the sole company that targets the endangered fin whale, the second largest species in the world (reaching 75 to 85 feet in length).

Kristján Loftsson, CEO and chair of Hvalur, led his company to kill more than 1,000 whales — including 551 fin whales — to exploit a limited demand for whale meat and blubber in Japan.

“Fin whaling is conducted by one lone mad fisheries magnate. He’s the lone driver in that outmoded and objectionable practice,” Patrick Ramage, the whales program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said to Yahoo News.

Loftsson is also a phenomenally successful businessman: He is chairman of the board for Iceland’s top seafood company, HB Grandi, and well-connected with the current conservative coalition government.

His ancestors got wealthy in the fisheries business, and he allocates a portion of his fortune to reviving the whaling and whale trade industry in the 21st century — to the tremendous frustration of the international community.

In December 2013, the Icelandic government approved the killing of up to 770 fin whales for five years — 154 per year. Its quotas are self-allocated and not approved by the IWC. (Michael Walsh for Yahoo News)


See RELATED STORY by Michael Walsh for Yahoo News

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