The Reykjavik District Court confirmed Thursday that the applications from Kaupthing and Glitnir banks for moratorium extensions has been approved. Read the full story

The administrators of both Kaupthing and Glitnir banks in Iceland have applied to the District Court in Reykjavik for an extension on their payment moratorium.

The two banks have had their current moratoria since the end of November.

The court’s decision is expected in a week or less, RUV.is reports.

PRESS RELEASE FROM KAUPTHING BANK:

Kaupthing Bank hf. (the “Bank”) has on 30 November 2008 filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code, in order to seek US recognition of the Bank’s moratorium, which has been Read the full story

Last week Norway officially stated that it would not be able to catch enough whales this year to meet its allocated quota. Few nations still allow whaling, and animal activists are jumping on this opportunity to claim that this is proof Norway should abandon the highly controversial act of whaling.

Since the opening of this year’s whaling season on April 1, Norwegian fishermen have only been able to catch half of the number of whales allowed by government authorities. 533 minke whales have been caught out of an allowed quota of 1,052. The whaling season ended on August 31, and local fishermen were already admitting that they would fall far short of the quota weeks in advance, according to The Guardian.

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Meat from fin whales caught in Icelandic waters has been sent for sale in Japan, according to BBC reports. The BBC says that as much as 60 tonnes of fin whale meat caught during the whale hunt of 2006 was exported, together with a smaller amount of minke whale meat from Norway.

An official in Japan said that there had been no request to import whale meat; however sources inside the industry claim the meat has already arrived.

The fin whale is currently considered an endangered species and is specifically listed on the Red List of Threatened Species.

According to officials in Iceland, the whale populations in their waters are high enough that small kills are sustainable. The export would be the first such sale to Japan in the last 20 years and comes from a kill of seven whales in 2006.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has ban on commercial whaling since 1986, however whaling has a cultural history in both Iceland and Norway. Both nations have formally objected to the ban and continue to grant government commercial quotas for annual hunts on a small scale.

The sale of whale meat is further prohibited under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Three countries have achieved exemption from the prohibition.

Kristjan Loftsson is the chief executive of a company in Iceland that catches fin whales. “This trade will be mutually beneficial for the three main whaling countries,” he said.

“This trade is perfectly legal under the domestic legislation of the three countries as well as all relevant international law.”