June 03, 2004
Whale hunt scaled back
The Icelandic government has announced the whale hunt for this year will be limited to 25 minke whales. That's down considerably from their announcement last year of plans to take 500 whales over two years, with an expansion this year of the hunt to include sei and fin whales.
Greenpeace welcomes this wise decision.
The absence of an export market for the meat, and a larger local resistance in Iceland than expected have reportedly contributed to the government's decision to step back.
We'll continue to apply pressure via economic incentives like the Iceland travel pledge, with the ultimate aim of working with the people of Iceland to phase out the hunt completely.
More than 50,000 people have pledged to visit Iceland if the whale hunt ends completely, for a total value to the Icelandic economy of more than 4,5 billion Icelandic Kroner.
Posted by brianfit at June 3, 2004 03:10 PM
