Iceland's parliament OKs commercial whaling

March 11, 1999
Web posted at: 11:06 p.m. EST (0406 GMT)

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- The Icelandic parliament has instructed the government to prepare to resume commercial whaling after a 10-year break.

The island nation of 250,000 people grudgingly stopped its hunts in 1989, three years after the International Whaling Commission imposed a global ban on commercial whaling to protect the giant sea mammals.

However, in 1992 -- the same year Norway announced plans to resume its own commercial whale hunts -- Iceland quit the whaling commission, claiming the organization set up to manage whaling had become one devoted only to preventing all hunts.

On Wednesday, Iceland's parliament resolved 37-7 to resume hunting, saying the country has the right to use all marine resources within its territorial waters, including whales.

The vote included instructions to the government to begin preparations for the hunt, including a drive to sway public opinion and avert the protests that Norway experienced.

The resolution said hunting should resume as soon as possible and certainly by December 31, 2000.

It specified no guidelines for hunting, except that whaling should be conducted on the basis of scientific advice from the country's oceanographic institute.

"The resolution is a significant step toward Icelandic whaling," said Rune Frovik of the High North Alliance, an organization of whalers based in Norway. "But now it is up to the Icelandic government to show the will and the courage to carry it out."

The International Whaling Commission was set up in 1948 to manage hunts, when it became clear that overhunting threatened some types of whales with extinction.

Iceland, Norway and Japan, all traditional whaling nations, say some whales, such as the minke, are now plentiful and can sustain a limited hunt.

Norway has faced protests, boycotts and sabotage against whaling boats in the six years since it resumed commercial hunting. Icelandic whaling boats also have been sabotaged by activists.

Norway is the only country that hunts whales for profit. It is not bound by the IWC ban, because commission rules allow members to reject rulings. Since Iceland quit the organization, it also is no longer bound by the ban.

Japan hunts a limited number of whales for research, which is allowed by the IWC.

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