World Against Whaling
written by Staff
Friday May 6, 2011
Iceland’s defiance of international trade agreements seems to have reached new heights following the discovery by WDCS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - that in March 2011, the country exported 289,134 kilos of “other frozen whale products” to Japan, almost double the previous largest single shipment of this kind since Iceland resumed international shipments of whale products in 2008 and a move that raises questions of commercial opportunism.
Previously the largest shipment of whale products was 149,192 kilos (April 2010). The latest export not only snubs the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on international trade in whale products but, coming in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, this particular shipment also brings into question the motives of exporters.
Iceland’s whale meat sales to Japan had been facing a tough time since exports began in 2008, and had fallen short of the profits predicted by both the whaling industry and then Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Guðfinnsson. Quality issues with the Icelandic whale meat, and a waning interest in the product among Japanese consumers meant that prices for Icelandic fin whale meat were set at low rates, described as a “loss leader” by the industry in its effort to try and build a market in Japan.
The 290 tonne March shipment was valued at an FOB rate of ISK 463 820 820 (2,814,755.76 EUR/US$4,144,816.48/GBP2,514,198.04 GBP).
“Were the whale products donated by Iceland’s whaling industry?’ asks Fisher. “If not, one has to wonder if Iceland’s whalers are trying to take advantage of the tragedy in Japan to build a market for a product that up until now has been a very hard sell.”
The release of the March export data comes only a week after both Iceland and Japan resumed commercial whaling on minke whales. Iceland’s hunt for endangered fin whales is expected to begin sometime in late June.
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