Iceland to end whaling from 2024 amid controversy and falling demand

Iceland says it will end whaling from 2024 amid dwindling demand and continuing controversy.

"There are few justifications to authorize whale hunting beyond 2024," when current quotas expire, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Svandís Svavarsdottir said in an op-ed in Friday's Morgunblaoio newspaper.

The minister wrote it was "undisputed" that whale hunting had not had much economic significance to Iceland in recent years, with no big whale caught in the last three years, except for one minke whale in 2021.

"Japan has been the largest buyer of [Icelandic] whale meat, but its consumption is declining year by year. Why should Iceland take the risk of continuing fishing that has not yielded economic benefits, in order to sell a product that is in low demand?" she asked.

After a 30-year ban, Japan resumed commercial whaling in its waters in 2019.