Yesterday, Bjarni Benediktsson, the acting Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, issued five-year fin and minke whale hunting permits. Environmental groups have condemned the decision as undemocratic and harmful, while Bjarni maintains that he is simply following existing laws and legal consultation.
Permits valid for five years
Yesterday, Bjarni Benediktsson, the acting Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, issued whaling permits to Hvalur hf. for fin whale hunting and the minke whaling vessel Halldór Sigurðsson ÍS 14, owned by Tjaldtangi ehf., for minke whale hunting.
Three applications were submitted for minke whale hunting permits and one for fin whale hunting.
As noted in an announcement on the government’s website, the permits are “issued in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 26/1949 on whaling, following consultations with the Directorate of Fisheries and the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute.”
The permits are valid for five years, “as was the case in 2009, 2014, and 2019,” the announcement notes, “ensuring a degree of predictability for the industry.”
Adhering to expert guidance
The announcement further notes that the total allowable catches for fin and minke whales are determined based on guidance from the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI), which in turn is based on principles of “sustainable utilisation and precautionary measures.”
The advice draws on assessments by the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), which stipulates that the annual fin whale catches from 2018 to 2025 should not exceed 161 animals in the East Greenland/West Iceland zone and a maximum of 48 animals in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands area.
According to the announcement, the total catch in these zones is well within the bounds of this guidance.
“MFRI’s whaling advice for 2018–2025 references a 2017 population trend assessment indicating a steady increase in the fin whale population around Iceland since the start of whale counts in 1987. The most recent count in 2015 recorded the highest numbers since the surveys began.”
“Following the law”
In an interview with Vísir yesterday, Bjarni Benediktsson stated that the decision to issue whaling permits was nothing more than routine processing by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries. His ministry was simply “following the law,” and there was no reason to wait for another minister to issue permits based on those same laws.
Bjarni emphasised that the laws governing whaling remain in force and were last reviewed by the parliamentary Ombudsman last year. The ministry had received applications for fin whale and minke whale hunting permits and the ministry had processed those applications.
“A conclusion has been reached, following, among other things, a legally-mandated consultation process,” Bjarni told Vísir. “The laws require that such permits be issued, and we have now finalised these matters.”
No reason to wait
Bjarni also stated that he “saw no reason” to delay the issuance of permits until a new government takes office. “There is nothing unusual about a caretaker government processing permits, simply because it involves following the laws on these matters,” he observed.
While acknowledging that whaling is a divisive issue in Icelandic society, Bjarni stressed that the existence of laws governing whaling and administration remained unchanged.
“When people deviate from what laws and regulations stipulate, they can run into conflicts with the parliamentary Ombudsman, as has happened recently,” Bjarni stated, referring to the conclusion of the parliamentary Ombudsman earlier this year that Svandís Svavarsdóttir’s decision to stop whaling last summer had not been in accordance with the law.
“We have sought to handle administration diligently and follow the laws and regulations on these matters,” Bjarni noted.
Bjarni added that animal welfare laws were also considered when issuing the permits.
“These perspectives have been addressed, for example, in regulatory amendments governing these matters. These regulations are under constant review, and some aspects of the rules on whaling have been proposed for reevaluation, but that is work that takes more time,” he remarked.
Advocates express outrage
As noted by Vísir, various environmental groups, including the Icelandic Environment Association (Landvernd), the Iceland Nature Conservation Association (Náttúruverndarsamtök Íslands), and the Young Environmentalists (Ungir umhverfissinnar), have expressed surprise and disapproval of the caretaker government’s decision to issue whaling permits.
“This shows a lack of respect for democracy, and issuing these permits goes against the interests of climate, nature, and animal welfare,” a joint statement by the aforementioned organisations, as quoted by Vísir, reads, calling the decision “an abuse of power.”
Bjarni rejected this accusation, reasoning that abuse of power occurs when people do not follow the law, impose their will against the will of Parliament, and fail to adhere to regulations. “In this case, we are following the rules. We are adhering to the laws that govern this matter. We are talking about utilising resources owned by Icelanders to create value, jobs, and export revenue, so I completely reject this criticism,” Bjarni stated.
An “outrageous abuse of power”
As reported by Vísir this morning, the organisation Stop Whaling in Iceland (Hvalavinir) strongly condemned Bjarni Benediktsson’s decision in a Facebook post yesterday.
The organisation described Bjarni’s decision as “an outrageous abuse of power by a defeated government.”
According to the post, the political parties currently engaged in coalition talks – the Social Democratic Alliance, the Reform Party, and the People’s Party – oppose whaling, making the decision undemocratic and peculiar.
“The nation was clear in the recent election, demanding change. A majority of Icelanders oppose whaling, and it is an unprecedented disrespect to the republic for the outgoing Prime Minister to push through a permit without the mandate of the people,” the organisation stated in its post.
This article will be updated.
