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Lets SHUT DOWN commercial whaling

Help us put pressure on Iceland to close down its commercial whaling activities via US trade sanctions.

Please send an email directly to the US government and urge them to take action against Iceland.

Commercial Whaling Round up

Norway
The government in Norway continues to set quotas (the number of whales it would like to hunt) far higher than the actual level of demand for whale meat. In 2010, Norways whalers killed 468 minke whales, only 36% of the number they could have taken, and the lowest number killed in ten years. The market for whale meat has shrunk and the number of whaling vessels is falling fast too, from 32 just five years ago, to 18 this year. Norway is also having problems with exports. It wants to sell whale meat to Japan, but levels of lactic acid and bacteria in its whales do not meet Japanese import standards.

Fig 1: Norwegian whaling quota and catches, 2005-2010

Fig 2: Norwegian whaling vessels participating in hunt

Japan
In Japan, demand for whale meat continues to fall and stockpiles of whale meat recently reached a record high of over 6,000 tons (despite reduced catches in recent years and discounted prices). As whaling loses money it needs higher and higher government subsidies.
Five government officials were reprimanded recently for accepting whale meat gift packages from a fisheries company contracted to conduct whaling.

Finally, although Japan is hunting over twice the usual area in Antarctica this season, the whaling season itself will be almost two months shorter than usual. Its fleet is missing a refueling vessel and has been dogged by protestors since it set sail in December 2010.

Iceland
Iceland killed 148 fin and 60 minke whales last year and is expected to maintain high quotas this summer, but it faces some big challenges. Member States of the European Union are following WDCSs advice and making whaling and trade a "zero tolerance issue" in Icelands EU membership negotiations. Meanwhile, the USA is considering potentially hard-hitting trade sanctions against Iceland for its increasing whaling activity and trade in whale products in defiance of international agreements.

Late in 2010, a 60 page legal petition prepared and filed by WDCS, and supported by 19 other conservation and animal welfare groups representing tens of millions of American citizens, called on the U.S. to impose trade sanctions against Iceland for its whaling and trade. The petition handed over identifies specific Icelandic companies as potential targets for these sanctions, including major seafood industry players that are directly linked to Icelands whaling industry.

WDCSs offices in Europe are now gearing up for a major consumer campaign in 2011 against Icelandic fish linked to whaling.

Please support our campaign by helping us to petition the US to impose trade sanctions on Iceland.

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