Iceland Ends Commercial Whaling

Meanwhile, a whale is illegally killed of U.S. coast

After resuming commercial whale hunting last year, Iceland has announced that the country will stop the practice because there is no market for whale meat. The fisheries minister said that whale hunting would resume if the market improves, but this is not likely.

Iceland plans to continue hunting whales for "scientific" purposes, even though the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission and many conservationists around the world oppose it. Whale experts agree that there are more ways we can learn about whales by studying them in their natural habitat than by killing them. So long as Iceland continues its "scientific" hunts, it will continue to tarnish the country's image and hurt their whale watching industry.

Meanwhile, members of the Makah tribe illegally killed a Grey whale off the coast of Washington State last week. The five men who shot the whale with 21 bullets did not have a permit to do so, and made the whale suffer for 10 hours as he struggled to escape their pursuit. The accused could face charges under Makah tribal law, U.S. federal law, and international law.

The Makah Tribal Council has apologized for the incident, and says it will punish the offenders under tribal law in hopes that they will not be prosecuted under federal or international laws. The whalers' illegal kill comes at a time when the tribe is seeking an exemption from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that would allow them to kill as many as five whales a year. One council member called the whale's death "a public relations setback," but the truth is, it is much more than that.

Of the five men involved in the killing, two are official members of the tribe's whaling crew, one of them being the captain, and another one is a whaling commissioner. The average time to kill a whale using traditional aboriginal hunting techniques is about 15 minutes, but this whale, executed using modern weapons, suffered for 10 hours, tailed by motorboats and trailing harpoon lines as he bled to death in the water. The Makah Tribal Council chose these men to hunt whales, so they must also be held responsible for their actions, and should be denied the NOAA permit.