Copenhagen: Iceland’s government will submit a bill in February to ban commercial whaling, a move that could leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries in the world continuing the practice.
The proposed ban follows years of protests and criticism from animal welfare campaigners over Iceland’s whaling industry. The issue has also attracted international attention, including opposition from prominent animal welfare advocates and celebrities.
During this year’s hunting season, which runs from June through around the end of September, 80 fin whales had been caught as of September 9, according to Humane World for Animals, which tracks whale catches. Iceland’s quota permits up to 150 fin whales to be killed this year.
‘There is considerable political and public support for this bill to ban commercial whaling,’ said Wendy Higgins, a spokeswoman for Humane World for Animals. She also cited ethical, veterinary, legal and conservation reasons supporting the proposed legislation.
Fin whales, the primary target of Iceland’s whaling industry, are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In 2024, Iceland’s interim government issued a five-year license to the country’s sole remaining whaling company.
Only Iceland, Norway and Japan have conducted commercial whaling in recent years, according to the International Whaling Commission’s catch list. Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993, while Iceland resumed in 2006, despite an international moratorium introduced in 1986 to protect whale populations.
Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.
The moratorium still permits indigenous communities in areas including Greenland and Alaska to hunt whales, recognizing the nutritional and cultural importance of whale products to those communities.
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