Iceland's last whaling company shrugs off threat of permanent ban

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

COPENHAGEN, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Iceland's last remaining active whaling company said it believed it could survive a renewed push to ban the practice, given that previous attempts to outlaw whale hunting had repeatedly failed.

The government said last week it would submit a bill in February that could permanently ban whaling, a move that would end the industry in one of only three countries, alongside Norway and Japan, that still allow commercial whale hunts.

"Over recent decades, bills to ban whaling have been discussed in parliament a few times, but every time it ended in nothing," Loftsson told Reuters on Monday. "I think we have good support for whaling in Iceland."

A similar bill to ban whaling was submitted for consultation in Iceland's parliament in October 2023, but did not result in legislation. 

Hvalur is Iceland's sole remaining whaling company still in operation. It operates two catcher boats and employs about 150 people during the whaling season, which runs from early June to late September.

The company has caught 85 fin whales so far this season, Loftsson said, against a quota of 150 animals.

Public opinion on whaling remains divided. Forty-one percent of Icelanders oppose the practice, one-third support it, and 26% are neutral, state broadcaster RUV reported in June, citing a Maskina poll for the Icelandic Nature Conservation Association.

Fin whales, the second-largest animal on Earth and the main target of Iceland's whaling industry, are classified globally as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In the North Atlantic, however, the species is listed as of "least concern", with populations considered healthy enough to sustain managed harvesting, according to the IUCN.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Ros Russell)