For The Second Year in a Row - Iceland Won't Hunt Any Whales!

Emer Keaveney | ORCA SciComm Team. • 25 April 2020

Another silver lining to the coronavirus as Iceland announces COVID-19 is part of the reason it won't commercially hunt whales again this year. One company has even admitted that commercially hunting whales is no longer profitable!

There is rejoice amongst the global conservation community as Iceland has said that they will not hunt and kill any whales this season for a second year in a row! Commercial whale hunting company IP=Utgerd has said it is no longer a profitable business and they would hang up their harpoons for good!

"I'm never going to hunt whales again, I'm stopping for good", says managing director Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson.

The company used to specialise in killing minke whales but has no said due to an extended no-fishing coastal zone it requires whalers to go further offshore and has become too expensive.

Another company, Hvalur, well known for capturing and killing a blue whale by mistake in 2018, has postponed this summers hunt due to social distancing measures implemented at its meat processing factories.

Due to the companies limited commercial hunt season which is restricted to the summer months - no whales will be killed by Iceland this year.

Unfortunately this doesn't mean all commercial whaling has come to a halt - Norway and Japan still carry out this cruel and unnecessary practice. Sign out petition here: STOP NORWAY WHALING

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