Minister of Finance, Agriculture and Fisheries Steingrímur J. Sigfússon
intends to review the law allowing for commercial whale hunting, one of
the last acts made by the former Minister Of Fisheries. His party, the Left-Greens, as well as the other party of the current government, the Social Democrats, both oppose the decision to allow commercial whaling.
According to an opinion poll conducted by Capacent, 67% of Icelanders were either supportive or very supportive of commercial whaling, with 20% against. At the same time, 59% believed whaling would have no impact on Iceland’s image, while 41% said it would harm the country’s image. This overlap indicates that there is a subset of the population who believe commercial whaling will hurt Iceland’s image, but support it anyway.
Among the strongest opponents of commercial whaling are those working in the tourist industry, especially those running whale watching companies.