Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, an environment campaign group, has threatened to return to Iceland. In 1986 he sank two whalers at Reykjavík harbor.
In an interview with Fréttabladid yesterday, Watson compared Iceland’s sustainable whaling policy with North Korea’s nuclear bomb testing.
Watson says the Icelandic government has disrespected public opinion with its decision to resume commercial whaling after a 17 year ban.
The Sea Shepherd leader has threatened to return to Iceland with two of his ships next summer to stop commercial whaling, which he has described as “crime.”
In 1986 the organization sank two whalers, Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7, at Reykjavík harbor and destroyed the equipment in whaling station Hvalstödin in Hvalfjördur, southwest Iceland.
The Icelandic government, and even other environmental campaign groups like Greenpeace, were outraged by this and condemned Sea Shepherd’s actions.
Currently, Sea Shepherds’ ships are busy trying to prevent whaling in Japan, as well as in the Galapagos.
Icelandic whaler Hvalur 9 has still not caught any fin whale. Droplaug Ólafsdóttir of Iceland’s Marine Institute told icelandreview.com that the whales may have left for warmer waters and that they are usually hunted during summer.
RÚV.is reported that minke whale hunting will soon begin.
Ben Bradshaw, UK’s Minister of Fisheries, urged the Icelandic government to reconsider its “drastic” decision on whaling in an interview with RÚV yesterday.
According to RÚV, the US government is also opposed to Iceland resuming commercial whaling and has the power to block all imports from Iceland to USA.
Iceland’s Foreign Minister Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir pointed out that the USA also hunts whales and told RÚV that the US’ reaction is “hypocritical”.
For another story on whaling, click here.
