Iceland kills over 200 whales
fishnewseu.com
ACCORDING to Whale and Dolphin Society sources, both the Icelandic fin whaling season and the minke whaling season closed last week.
A total of 208 whales have been killed, two more than last years tally of 206. The 148 fin whales and 60 minke whales killed in 2010 are estimated to generate more than 1900 tonnes of whale products, based on calculations used by the Icelandic government.


Despite the general demise in popularity of whale meat in both Japan and European whaling nations, Iceland's fin whaling industry has taken its highest catch since 1985, leading to questions as to what is planned for the mountain of whale products that have been produced since last year.


The Hvalur fin whaling company has sought to circumvent falling domestic meat demand by exporting to Japan, as well as promoting new uses for whale products. It has even gone so far as to use whale oil to fuel vessels to then hunt more whales.


In an interview with Icelandic radio today, the owner of Hvalur, Kristjan Loftsson, vowed to continue whaling next season.


WDCS has recently produced a comprehensive statistical analysis of whaling and also a report on the whaling industry's development of new applications for whale oil.
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