Photograph by Fred Hsu/Wikimedia Commons.After a two-year hiatus, Icelandic whaling company Hyalur hf has announced that it will hunt and sell the meat of up to 184 fin whales this year. Iceland along with Japan and Norway, are the three countries that have refused to cooperate with international laws banning the killing and trading of whales for commercial purposes. A coalition of international animal welfare and conservation groups has asked the Obama Administration to impose economic sanctions against Iceland, a country that has flouted international laws since 2003. Kitty Block, Vice President of the Humane Society International says: "In the 21st century, for a government to support an industry built from the trade in flesh and other products from slow-to-reproduce marine mammals who can live up to 90 years of age, is reckless and irresponsible." Since 2008, Iceland has exported more than 2,800 tons of fin whale meat and blubber to Japan.
Source: Sanctuary Asia.
