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Iceland Whale Meat Heading To Japan
London (AFP) Nov 6, 2006 An Icelandic company which has killed seven fin whales in the past two weeks plans to export the meat to Japan, its CEO an interview with The Daily Telegraph published on Monday. Iceland announced last month that it had authorised its whalers to hunt 30 minke whales and nine fin whales through August 2007 for export, thereby making it only the second country after Norway to outright defy a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling. Kristjan Loftsson, chief executive of Icelandic whaling company Hvalurj, said there was "no problem" finding markets for whale meat in Japan, and added that there were "no restrictions on whale exports to Japan". The newspaper said that there is a ban on trade of fin whale meat under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, although whaling nations have long argued that under the International Whaling Commission's rules, trade is allowed. "We are back in business with about 100 tonnes of excellent eco-friendly whale meat and blubber ready for the market," Loftsson said. He added that his company had stopped whaling for the year because of poor weather and a lack of daylight. The fin whale is the second largest species of whale after the blue whale. According to estimates agreed on by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), there are close to 70,000 minke whales in the central North Atlantic, of which around 43,600 are in Icelandic waters. Fin whales in the central North Atlantic number around 25,800. Loftsson said he disagreed with the rationale used by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature which listed the fin whale as an endangered species. "They say they have been caught so heavily in the southern hemisphere that world stocks are endangered. You can't do that because these are local populations," he argued. "Our Marine Research Institute says it shouldn't have any effect on stocks if you took 150 fin whales a year."
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Twenty-Five Countries To Urge Iceland To Respect Whaling Ban
Paris (AFP) Oct 31, 2006Twenty-five countries are Wednesday to call on Iceland to reverse a decision to resume commercial whaling in defiance of an international ban, the French foreign ministry said. All intend to "manifest their opposition to the resumption of commercial whaling and ask the Icelandic authorities to reconsider their policy in this field," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. |
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