Iceland’s minister for finance, farming and fisheries, the Green Party leader Steingrimur J. Sigfusson, today announced that his predecessor’s controversial increase in the whaling quota will stand – at least for this year.
Former fisheries minister Einar K. Gudfinsson made it his parting act to announce a quota of 100 minke whales and 150 fin whales per year for the next five years. Many observers believed the decision was made partly to cause the strongly anti-whaling Sigfusson a headache in his new job.
Sigfusson did not rescind the decision immediately, instead taking a few weeks to discuss the issue with all sides.
The minister remains anti-whaling on a personal level, and warned whalers that they cannot take for granted that Gudfinsson’s quota will stand for the next four years.
Environmentalists, tourist chiefs and the wider international community reacted with dismay to this largely unexpected outcome.
One more proof that this party is not a green party. Greenpeace, we need you!!
Iceland is in a very difficult situation. It faces negotiations with lots of creditors and in such negotiations the sympathy factor plays an important role. To put it simply, if you owe a lot of money to a guy who is a lot bigger than you, do you think it is a good idea to piss off this guy?
If the Icesave deal goes trough the Icelandic fishing stocks will within a few years end up in the hands of the EU, the EU over exploits 90 % of its fishery’s and 30 % of them are endangered and close to be exterminated, this would mean that very soon the the Icelandic stocks will be exploited by EU country’s like France, Spain, Britain etc,
the sea here is full of whales believe it or not and they eat more than our quota pr year,
who is to say the whales are safe if the EU takes over our fishery’s and what happens to the whales once the fish is gone, whales need fish to survive just like polar bears do and seals,
the Greenpeace know this, the reason why they are not concerned with this obvious problem is that this save the whales thing is just a commercial propaganda to generate income,
sad but true, it has its income from simple people who take time every once in a while from the tv to protest something without giving it much thought, its easyer to be fed information than to be forced to use your brain, so they eat up what they are sold by Greenpeace and similar money machines,
if Greenpeace had the least bit of real interest in the whales they would be interested in preserving the fishing stocks as they are the most important part of the eco system here,
if its taken away the whole system falls,
you dont have to be a genious to see this.
If the previous Minister had the executive power to authorise the whaling licenses then you could assume that the new minister has the executive power to withdraw the licenses.
Good point Niels:
IP 25
SD 18
LG 9
PP 7
LP 4
So they’d need the SD & PP to join them if it required a vote. But does it require a vote?
@Bromley
I do not know too much about icelandic politics but I suspect the problem is that the current gov is actually a minority government, so probably they do not have a majority to overturn this decision.
This is mind boggling for the head of a “Green Party” not to revoke his predecessor’s shameful decision and to press on to explode bombs inside the 2nd largest mammals on earth, a listed endangered species. Cowardly, and not what Iceland needs. Iceland should be doing everything it can to expand whale WATCHING, as the tourist income is where Iceland’s economy is destined. Are we in the 21st century yet?
Hi Fishy,
Well, I am not an environmentalist too (same goes for Bromley as he told himself) and I do not have an emotional problem with whaling even though I am not symphatetic to it, just like I am not sympathetic towards hunting.
But I still eat meat, so I have no moral right to discuss the matter, that is why I was focusing on the economic aspect.
BTW did you know that in the most popular guide on Iceland (Lonely Planet) in the reviews of restaurants there is a specific indication when they serve whale meat?
Just saw this over on IR. Does anyone know what he means?
“Sigfússon, who had considered revoking the decision, said his hands were tied.”
http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=320165
@Niels
Hi Niels
Although I do understand the point you are making (backed up with research figures)
BUT…..
Many of the tourist who go whale watching are NOT environmentalist fanatics , only tourist’s who want to see whales as part of their vacation to Iceland.
Many of the same tourist’s later also eat whale meat as part of their vaction experience in Iceland too.
@TWR
In another thread you refused to give any figures to Bromley yourself, so I could easily dismiss your question but still I will try to do some homework.
Here is a link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2917267.stm
In 2002 16 millions USD were generated from whale watching tourism alone, a lot more than was earned from whaling. In the report it is also predicted that the amount of tourist taking part in ww will rise considerably. Tourism in Iceland has increased considerably every year, by some 11 % annually.
I found an interesting fact sheet with statistics from tourism in Iceland in 2005. During this year about 360.000 tourists were visitng Iceland.
About 35 % of them took part in a whale watching tour during the summer and some 10% did this during the winter so it is fair to say that 22,5% of tourists (looking on a yearly basis) did take part in a ww-tour.
Now this already makes 81000 people (in 2005).
http://www.icetourist.is/upload/files/STATISTICS_2005.pdf
The sheet also states that in 2005 some 40 bill ISK was generated by tourism in Iceland. For ease of calculation (we are talking 2005) let us value 100 kr to 1 euro. This makes a quite staggering 400 million euro.
When checking the websites of some ww operators I found they quote prices in euro: they are one of the very few icelandic companies who can do this since their service is very much in demand. They are not hit by the kreppa that much. Whale meat (basically being just food) is much more sensitive to economic downturns.
There are quite a lot of such operators, not only in Reykjavik but also in a lot of villages.They provide jobs, quite a lot of them. I would like to ask you if you can come up with evidence that whaling provides more jobs than ww-tourism.
There are 2 important things to keep in mind:
1. a certain amount of tourists specifically choses to go to Iceland BECAUSE of ww-tourism.
2. a considerabe amount of tourists will NOT go to Iceland because of whaling.
Do not underestimate the power of the anti-whaling lobby (of which I am not a member btw), the ‘green awareness’ in countries like Germany, UK and NL and I think I am not exaggerating when claiming that tourism will decrease by 10 %.
10 % of 400 million is 40 million euro of damage to the icelandic economy.
Since tourism actually increased since 2005 the damage will even be greater.
Now valuate this against profits from whaling. In the Reykjavik Grapevine I came upon the following statement:
In the summer of 2005 whale was the cheapest meat in Iceland , priced at 400 SK/kg compared with about 1200 isk/kg for chicken…..
In spite of adventurous plans to sell whale meat to Japan such an export has not happened so far and will attract angry reactions.
Finally, Iceland is in a very difficult situation. It faces negotiations with lots of creditors (especially from ‘green-aware’ countries) and in such negotiations the sympathy factor plays an important role. To put it simply, if you owe a lot of money to a guy who is a lot bigger than you, do you think it is a good idea to piss off this guy??
Even if a foreign politician would be prepared to ‘forgive’ part of the icelandic debt he would face domestic criticism from the green lobby in his own country (I noticed icelanders understand little about such political processes in other countries and believe that a few jobs in a remote village are more important, but they play a VERY important role) and be forced to take a harder stand against Iceland.
I am not a hysteric environmentalist and I have only used economic arguments in my reply.
@TWR
I like the way your thinking “whaling safari”
Why not?
There are still plenty of rich people out there to exploit excessive amounts of money to help us hunt the whales.
Maybe we should join up, talk to the right people and start the ball rolling!
To Niels.
Could you provide hard numbers please?
I mean the ones showing what Whaling provides less than tourism.
Even if so, jobs for ‘few dozen people’ are currently extremely welcome, since unemployment is still growing.
And don’t speak about reputation.. whaling was ‘fine’ until recent events and all currently ongoing protests look more like a try to kill already injured opponent.
Btw, we could offer tourist participation in whaling (as an alternative to watching)… safari is popular, so why not whaling? :)
Bromley, you are making a good point. I once read an interesting comment from a norwegian who was quite neutral on the matter of whaling, regarding it as some form of folklore which was only important to local politicians who wanted to give some excitement to nostalgic old people in remote fishing villages. Most people agree that whaling is not profitable at all. However, strong protests from abroad hurt the national pride to such an extent that abolishing whaling becomes a non-issue to politicians.
Maybe these fanatical anti-whaling actions are in fact beneficial for the continuation of the trade.
AFAIK Iceland earns more money from tourism in general and whale watching tourism in particular than it does with whaling, which only gives employment to a few dozen people.
If people still want to make decisions which are not beneficial at all to their economy, damage their reputation abroad and scare away foreign torurists (while this is actually one of the real areas for economic growth in Iceland) they should do so, but it is not wise.
One more proof that VG is not a green party. They just wanted the power. For me they go in the same box as XD !
>This post is NOT a wind-up but a fair comment from a PRO-WHALER.
And yet, it’s still a wind up. Pro-whaler or otherwise, you should be able to be assess pros and cons, but instead you say “we don’t want tourists” and “we don’t want export trade”. That just makes you look like you’re trolling.
You could instead have made the point that whaling might bring in more money, either directly or in conjunction with protecting fish stocks, than tourism and export.
@ Paul Watson
before you set sail please take a moment to learn to spell your ships name correctly,
its Sea shepherd,
Paul Watson cant come to Iceland again because the last time he was here he committed a crime that put lifes at risk and caused property damage,
he promised never to return and escaped prison
a coward would make such a deal.
when i was a kid i ate nothing but fish whalemeat and slátur(haggis in Scotland)
i cant say i miss whalemeat, i dont see how any one could imagine us selling some 150 big whales in the next few years
this old industry is as absolete as the 70 year old steam powered ships used for whale hunting,
this nonsense will die on its own,
what Steingrimur is doing is to ban whailing in some areas, probably where whales are to be found.
@Paul Watson
You can come – no problem.
But only under one condition – you have to row in wooden boat all the way up!!!
If you come by plane or diesel powered ship – I for one will vote to arrest/sink you for damaging and polluting Icelandic airspace and waters! :)
PS. if you don’t know what to do in your life – go to Africa… people over there really need help.
Captain Ahab,
Yes, we are very much looking forward to receiving your exports.
The problem in Japan is there is very little whale meat, hence the prices are high.
With extra meat from Iceland, supply will increase and prices should decrease as a result.
I will be able to eat whale more often.
Thanks Iceland.
I all for it. I had no idea he would have this big balls.
Good on you Steingrimur.
Thats 300 more jobs and they are all rural.
Rock on!!
The only country in the world that has been able to responsibly maintain its fish stocks is Iceland. Its nots like we are going to hunt them to extinction.
People should grow up and realise these are just animals who can be sustainably harvested.
They are not superior beings and they are no longer endangered.
YES. we will be whaling.
First Icelandic international reputation very badly damaged after banking collapse .
NOW.
International reputation will be further damaged because now its not politically correct to hunt whales.
GOOD.
Now tourist’s boycott Iceland and foreign consumers boycott Icelandic products.
Did not want those kind of tourists anyway ,now maybe they can make large donation to greenpeace instead.
consumers of icelandic products can buy from elsewhere.
Did not want those kind of consumers either.
Whale meat does taste very good – just like beef steak
I have NO GUILT when i eat it .
Mankind is simply higher on the food chain.
I support the whaling industry and the sensible decision to control the whale stocks.
Compared to the whale stock the whale quota is NOT set very high and stocks will remain substainable.
But please Paul Watson and Greenpeace come here and shoot your water-cannons at our whalers .
I could do with a good laugh
This post is NOT a wind-up but a fair comment from a PRO-WHALER.
There are many of us here only we do not NEED to shout so much as anti-whalers.
The Icelandic whale hunters will be judged by themselves and NOT by others.
Personally I think whaling is a far MORE honest profession than banking.
PLEASE to the rest of the world leave us alone with OUR financial collapse and OUR whales.
P.S to our Japanese whaling friends maybe Iceland will be able to sell you a little surplus whale meat
@ Captain Ahab
Myself and the “greenpeace faries” will be coming to Iceland to hunt you down!!!!!
The Seashepard sets sail to Iceland at sunrise
Sorry.
I know its not politically correct and all that.
BUT, the decision is made.
I for one would love to be at the front of the vessel harpoon at the ready!!!!
Hopefully now i will get the chance!!!
Sign me up!!!
When your international reputation is already shot to hell, who cares if you dirty it some more.
Sad though, under normal circumstances continental Greens would be more sympathetic to Iceland. Perhaps not now.
Greenpeace come to this country please, we need all of you!! That is enought!!
Shame on Steingrimur. If this is from the leader of the Green Party, then anarchy seems the only politics left. Everything is f***ed, it really is.