Conservationists are hopeful that an end to commercial whaling in Iceland has moved one step closer following media reports that no fin whales will be hunted there this summer.

Kristjan Loftsson, the director of Iceland’s largest whaling company, told daily newspaper Morgunbladid on Wednesday that Hvalur HF would not be sending out vessels to slaughter the endangered whales this season because of difficulties exporting the meat to the Japanese market.

Last year, Loftsson’s whaling company is reported to have killed 155 fin whales, and a total of 706 since Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006. Icelanders traditionally do not eat meat from fin whales, making the world’s second largest whale a species hunted specifically with a view for sale in Japan.

According to reports, Loftsson has faced increased difficulty in his whaling activities in recent years due to a combination of logistical problems, a falling market for whale meat and increased international opposition to whaling.



Last year’s fin whaling season, which usually begins in mid-June, was delayed because of a strike by veterinary inspectors. At the same time, the company’s attempts to ship 1,700 tonnes of whale meat to Japan via Angola were hampered by the reluctance of some foreign ports to allow transit of the meat. A similarly controversial delivery of 2,000 tonnes in 2014 sparked protests and was turned away from several ports.



Patrick Ramage, global whale programme director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said: “This cannot have been an easy decision for Loftsson but it is the right one for Iceland’s interests as well as his own ... We commend Loftsson on his decision which is a very positive development for Iceland, for whales and for the millions of people around the world who care deeply about both.”

In today’s local media reports, Loftsson is quoted as saying that another hindrance to his fin whaling activities was Japan’s insistence on outdated chemical analysis tests on the meat, even though it travels with a certificate. He claims that unless Japan adopts new, modern research methods, his company will not be hunting whales for the Japanese market this summer.



He told the paper that numerous attempts had been made to solve the issue with the help of the ambassadors in both countries, but to no avail. “If we knew what kind of trouble was brewing in Japan when we commenced whaling in 2009, after a 20-year pause, we would have never started again,” he told reporters.

Vanessa Williams-Grey, senior whaling campaigner at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: “Harpooning fin whales and shipping their meat halfway round the world to Japan has always been as crazy as it is cruel. It is well-documented that whale meat contains high levels of toxins and much of the meat exported by Loftsson’s company sits, unwanted, in frozen stockpiles.

“It seems that Loftsson has finally realised that his fin whaling has no future. The end of commercial whaling has moved a step closer today.”

Danny Auron of Avaaz, which ran a global campaign targeting the shipping routes used by Loftsson’s whaling outfit and signed by more than 1 million people, said: “This summer, Iceland’s majestic fin whales can swim safe from the threat of being murdered and butchered. Kristjan Loftsson was dead-set on continuing the hunt but millions of voices from around the world joined together to disrupt his trade, and it worked. It looks like fin whalers are on the verge of extinction in Iceland, instead of fin whales.”

There has been no comment on possible fin whaling beyond the next season, or on the prospects for minke whaling, which is still expected to begin around May despite a limited domestic market for the meat.



Iceland and Norway are the only nations that openly defy the International Whaling Commission’s 1986 ban on hunting whales. Japan has used a legal loophole in the ban that allows it to continue hunting the animals in order to gather scientific data – but it is well known that whale meat from these hunts often ends up on dining tables.

Consumption of whale meat in Japan has fallen sharply in recent years while polls show that only around 3% of Icelanders claim to regularly eat whale meat. The percentage of tourists who say they have tasted whale meat has more than halved over the last five years from 40% in 2009 to 18% in 2014.



In contrast, whale watching is now one of the top tourist attractions in Iceland, generating around £10m annually and attracting more than 200,000 tourists each year.