The Animal Protection Society of Iceland has issued a statement urging
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir to reverse the previous
government’s decision to allow commercial whaling. The statement reads as follows:
“The Animal Protection Society of Iceland urges
the Government of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir to invalidate the decision of
the Government of Geir Haarde to allow large scale professional
whaling. The Society points out that the whaling methods employed cannot
be reconciled with modern animal welfare criteria and considers that well planned whale-watching is the most desirable and sustainable way
of utilizing this natural resource.“
As previously reported, whale-watching tourists in Húsavík alone, in the year 2007 alone, generated 129 million ISK in revenue. At the same time, commercial whaling is subsidized and generates no real revenue. Despite this, 67% of Icelanders are either supportive or very supportive of commercial whaling, even while 41% believe it will harm the country’s image – meaning there is a statistically significant portion who fall within an overlap, both supporting commercial whaling and believing it will hurt Iceland’s image.