A new poll indicates that nine out of 10 people in Germany and the UK disagree with Iceland’s decision to resume whaling, and more than four out of five people are unlikely to purchase seafood products from Icelandic fishing companies linked to whaling.
The 2014 hunt is currently underway, and to date, more than 100 fin and 22 minke whales have been killed this year.
The results of the poll are being released prior to the 2014 annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to be held in Portorož, Slovenia, from September 15–18.
Susan Millward, executive director of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) said, “We urge IWC member countries to denounce Iceland's cruel whaling industry, and to use all diplomatic tools at their disposal to ensure that Iceland abides by both the commercial whaling moratorium and the CITES ban on trade in whale products. As the poll results clearly show, the public will support efforts to bring an end to Iceland's undermining of international conservation measures for whales.”
