Representatives of the Icelandic Government recently had meetings on whaling in Washington DC with the US State Department and the offices of Alaskan Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich.
The objective of the meetings was to react to the certification of Iceland by the US Secretary of Commerce under the Pelly Amendment and to inform the US Government and Congress about the Icelandic whaling policy.
Pursuant to the Pelly Amendment, countries that engage in whaling or trade whale products, may face trade sanctions against any of their products that enter the United States.
At the meetings, the Icelandic representatives, Tomas H Heidar, the Commissioner of Iceland to the International Whaling Commission, and Hjalmar W Hannesson, Ambassador of Iceland in Washington DC, emphasised that Iceland’s whaling activities are fully lawful and that its international trade in whale products is in accordance with its international obligations.
They stated that Iceland only conducts whaling from two abundant and healthy stocks in the North Atlantic, minke whales and fin whales, and that whaling activities are fully sustainable and based on best scientific information. They said that therefore there was no legal or scientific basis for the Pelly Amendment certification by the US Secretary of Commerce. Consequently, there was no basis for the actions against Iceland stipulated in the certification letter.
Jon Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland, has expressed surprise and disappointment over the Pelly Amendment certification of Iceland. “The US authorities are not consistent when they criticise Iceland for its fin whale hunting on the one hand and ask for the support of Iceland and other member States of the International Whaling Commission for their bowhead quota off Alaska on the other hand. Scientific information clearly shows that the Icelandic fin whale hunting is no less sustainable than the US bowhead whaling”.
The five-year US bowhead quota is subject to approval by a 3/4 majority of member countries of the International Whaling Commission at its Annual Meeting in Panama in 2012.
