TOKYO (IPC Digital) – Environmentalists reacted strongly indignant to a possible shipment of fin whale meat to Japan, scheduled by an Icelandic whaling company. They claim that this violates international conservation agreements.

The company Hvalur HF plans to ship 1,700 tons of whale meat via Luanda, in Angola, repeating a similar controversial delivery of 2,000 tons last year, which provoked intense protests along its route.

“There is no humanitarian way to kill animals of this size,” said Sigursteinn Masson, an Icelandic spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw). “There is no need for this meat and there is certainly no need for it for Iceland’s economy or fishing industry. This is a practice that faces strong international opposition. Commercial whaling is a very isolated business, we want to see the end of it, as has been done in most parts of the world. ”

According to the Icelandic daily Eyjan, the meat was loaded on board a ship near the Icelandic capital Reykjavik about two weeks ago, but a mechanical failure delayed the ship’s departure.

Kristjan Loftsson, chief executive of Hvalur HF, said the boarding “was not illegal. Iceland has made reservations about the ban and therefore the shipment is not tied to it, ”he said.

Iceland and Norway are the only countries that still openly challenge the 1986 whaling ban issued by the International Whaling Commission (CBI).

Icelandic whalers caught 137 fin whales and 24 dwarf whales only in 2014, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), a group fighting to end this commercial practice.

Japan uses a loophole in the ban that allows it to continue hunting these animals for use in scientific research. However, he never made it a secret that, in fact, whale meat goes to the Japanese dish.

In the video below, produced in a homemade way in the city of Taiji, Wakayama province, two Brazilian children make an appeal for Japan to stop killing whales in front of a ship used to hunt the animal.

The consumption of whale meat in Japan, however, has fallen sharply in recent years, while Icelanders maintain a regular demand for the product. In September 2014, the European Union, USA and several other countries issued a declaration calling on Iceland to stop commercial hunting, in particular fin whales.

Source: The Guardian

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