One hundred and thirty tonnes of fin whale meat have been sent back to Iceland from the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.The large returned shipment, which was due to be exported to Japan, will be viewed as a major success for animal rights groups, who claim the trade is “pointless”. TV footage showed the boat, laden with meat, returning to its starting point of Reykjavik. The vessel was being followed by a boat that the International Fund for Animal Welfare chartered.

The boat transporting the meat from 10 culled whales left Reykjavik last month before docking in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and then Hamburg. However, before setting off for Japan, the maritime carrier Samskip said that it had come to an agreement with other transporters not to export the fin whale meat and return it to Iceland instead. The shipment firm also stated that it won’t be transporting whale meat in the future.

International Fund for Animal Welfare spokesman Sigursteinn Masson insisted no-one wants this whale meat, which should make people realise the pointlessness of the whale hunt, particularly the finback hunt.

Iceland only resumed its fin whale hunt this year after suspending whaling during 2011 and 2012, partly due to the economic downturn in Japan, its largest market. Despite the International Whaling Commission outlawing commercial whaling, Iceland does not adhere to the ruling.