The whaling season in Iceland has been a great success thus far, with 110 whales being killed to date – 64 fin whales and 46 minke whales. What’s more, none of the meat produced from the hunting of these whales has had to be frozen this season, with sales of whale meat going strong and the fare becoming rather popular for Icelanders to barbeque on account of its relatively minimal cost in comparison to other meat options.
The quota set for this whaling season allows for the killing of 200 minke and 150 fin whales but, as Gunnar Bergmann Jónsson, of the Association of Minke Whalers said to Fréttabladid, reaching the set quota is not the goal. If, however, the quota is approached whalers will freeze and export whale meat to other markets, such as Japan, Norway and the Faroes.
Whaling in Iceland has received much negative attention in recent months following the increase of the quota. Many critics doubt the actual size of the foreign market for whale meat and, thus, do not deem it appropriate to allow for the hunting of more whales than in previous years.
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