Whale meat is selling particularly well at the moment, and was almost sold-out at the Nóatún supermarket, according to a report in daily newspaper Fréttablaðið. Seven minke whales have been caught so far this year in Icelandic waters. Whale hunting in Iceland is deemed necessary for scientific purposes.
“Demand for the meat is more than supply,” Gunnar Bergmann of the Association of Minke Whale Hunters told Fréttablaðið. “We have had to go twice a day to shops where it is selling out.”
The plan is to catch 37 whales this year. Each whale provides about 800 kg of meat, 300 of which goes straight to the fresh meat section of the supermarket and the rest of which is frozen. “People want minke whale on the grill over the summer,” said Gunnar. “Of course it is selling so well because it is so tasty.”
