No fin whales will be caught this summer due to “difficult market conditions” in Japan. The primary reason for the decision to stop whaling, according to the local newspaper Morgunblaðið, is that Hvalur, the only whaling company which has caught fin whales in Iceland, has faced what the company describes as excessively onerous challenges in introducing the meat to the Japanese market.
Read more: New poll: A huge majority of Icelanders don’t buy whale meat
Japan is the only remaining market for fin whale products. However, whale meat consumption has dropped in Japan in recent years. At the same time the government maintains extremely time consuming methods of testing imported whale products, resulting in excessive red tape, according to Kristján Loftsson, the primary owner and director of whaling firm Hvalur hf and most outspoken advocate of whaling in Iceland.
Hvalur is the only company that hunts fin whales in Iceland. In 2015 the company caught 155 fin whales. The local news site visir.is quotes Kristján Loftsson as saying his firm would never have re-entered the whaling industry in 2009 after a 20 year hiatus, had they realized how difficult it would be to sell the products in Japan.
In recent years the company has also faced significant challenges transporting the meat to Japan. In 2014 a cargo vessel chartered by Hvalur was refused permission to dock along the way, resulting in the company opting to send its products through the arctic via the North-East passage in 2015. A petition urging the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis to withdraw their flag from the cargo vessel Winter Bay, which was carrying the 1,700 tonne whale meat shipment to Japan, received more than one million signatures.
Read more: Whaling is not an Icelandic tradition
In August last year Iceland Insider reported that analysis by a local newsppaper Stundin revealed that an analysis of the annual accounts of Hvalur showed the company’s whaling operations had generated more than 12 million USD (10.1 million EUR) in losses in 2013 and 2014. The decision to stop whaling after the 2015 season does not indicate last year was any more successful than previous years. However, to date Hvalur has covered the losses from whaling with profits generated by the fishing giant HB Grandi, of which Hvalur is a major shareholder.
The decision by Hvalur will not have any impact on the hunting of minke whales. Minke whale meat is primarily consumed domestically. As in Japan the demand for whale products has dropped in Iceland, but demand is increasingly held up by restaurants who cater to foreign travellers.
No fin whales will be caught this summer due to “difficult market conditions” in Japan. The primary reason for the decision to stop whaling, according to the local newspaper Morgunblaðið, is that Hvalur, the only whaling company which has caught fin whales in Iceland, has faced what the company describes as excessively onerous challenges in introducing the meat to the Japanese market.
Read more: New poll: A huge majority of Icelanders don’t buy whale meat
Japan is the only remaining market for fin whale products. However, whale meat consumption has dropped in Japan in recent years. At the same time the government maintains extremely time consuming methods of testing imported whale products, resulting in excessive red tape, according to Kristján Loftsson, the primary owner and director of whaling firm Hvalur hf and most outspoken advocate of whaling in Iceland.
Hvalur is the only company that hunts fin whales in Iceland. In 2015 the company caught 155 fin whales. The local news site visir.is quotes Kristján Loftsson as saying his firm would never have re-entered the whaling industry in 2009 after a 20 year hiatus, had they realized how difficult it would be to sell the products in Japan.
In recent years the company has also faced significant challenges transporting the meat to Japan. In 2014 a cargo vessel chartered by Hvalur was refused permission to dock along the way, resulting in the company opting to send its products through the arctic via the North-East passage in 2015. A petition urging the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis to withdraw their flag from the cargo vessel Winter Bay, which was carrying the 1,700 tonne whale meat shipment to Japan, received more than one million signatures.
Read more: Whaling is not an Icelandic tradition
In August last year Iceland Insider reported that analysis by a local newsppaper Stundin revealed that an analysis of the annual accounts of Hvalur showed the company’s whaling operations had generated more than 12 million USD (10.1 million EUR) in losses in 2013 and 2014. The decision to stop whaling after the 2015 season does not indicate last year was any more successful than previous years. However, to date Hvalur has covered the losses from whaling with profits generated by the fishing giant HB Grandi, of which Hvalur is a major shareholder.
The decision by Hvalur will not have any impact on the hunting of minke whales. Minke whale meat is primarily consumed domestically. As in Japan the demand for whale products has dropped in Iceland, but demand is increasingly held up by restaurants who cater to foreign travellers.
