ICELAND WANTS TO BAN WHALING. LOFTSSON MAY BE FACING THE END DESPITE HIS OPPOSITION
Iceland is preparing to take a major step that could bring one of the most controversial chapters in its modern history to an end. In February 2027, the government plans to submit a bill to parliament that would fundamentally change the rules governing commercial whaling and open the way to a permanent ban. Paradoxically, Icelandic whalers have returned to sea this year after a two-year break.
If parliament approves the ban, Iceland would join the countries that have permanently abandoned commercial whaling. Only two countries would then remain commercially whaling — Norway and Japan.
WHALERS HAVE RETURNED TO SEA THIS YEAR
The current situation is somewhat paradoxical. Iceland allowed whaling to resume this year, and the country's only remaining whaling company, Hvalur, led by veteran whaler Kristján Loftsson, returned to hunting fin whales after a two-year break.
The season began in June and runs roughly until the end of September. A quota of 150 fin whales was set for this year. By September 9, 80 had been caught, according to Humane World for Animals.
This means that the potential ban the government is seeking to introduce is not an immediate reaction to this year's season. It is part of a broader debate over whether commercial whaling should have any future in Iceland at all.
Hvalur also does not hold a licence for this year alone. The five-year licence issued in 2024 remains valid until 2029. That could be one of the complications the new legislation will have to address.
🐋 A HISTORY OF WHALING IN ICELAND
Year | What happened |
17th–19th centuries | Whales were hunted off Iceland's shores using traditional methods. Meat, blubber and other parts of the animals had a wide range of uses. |
1883 | One of Iceland's first modern whaling stations was established in Álftafjörður, marking the beginning of the industrial era of whaling. |
20th century | Iceland gradually became a major whaling nation. The hunt focused primarily on large whales. |
1949 | Iceland adopted a law on the protection of whales, which became the basis of the country's whaling regulations. |
1986 | The International Whaling Commission introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling. Iceland joined it but later lodged an objection. |
2006 | Iceland resumed commercial whaling. Hvalur and its boss Kristján Loftsson became the dominant names in the industry. |
2023 | After a report was published on the methods used to kill whales, the government temporarily halted the hunt. |
2024 | Hvalur was granted a licence to hunt fin whales through 2029. |
2026 | Whaling resumed after a two-year break. At the same time, the government announced plans for legislation that could permanently ban commercial whaling. |
2027? | The government plans to submit a bill on the future of whaling to parliament in February. |
WHY IS ICELAND TURNING ITS BACK ON WHALING?
The debate in Iceland changed significantly in 2023. At the time, the government commissioned an independent assessment of the methods used to kill whales during the hunt.
The findings were so troubling that the then minister of fisheries temporarily suspended whaling. The report found that some whales took a very long time to die after being struck by a harpoon. In some cases, the killing took tens of minutes and, in the most extreme cases, up to two hours.
That document has now become one of the arguments for changing the law.
The Icelandic government also points out that the current Whaling Act dates back to 1949 and has changed very little since then. The planned legislation is therefore intended to address not only the hunt itself, but the wider legal framework governing whaling. A permanent ban is one of the options under consideration.
ONE ICELAND, TWO COMPLETELY OPPOSITE VIEWS OF WHALING
On one side stand Hvalur and Kristján Loftsson, one of the country's best-known defenders of Icelandic whaling. On the other are an increasingly large part of the public, environmental groups and the tourism industry.
And tourism represents one of the biggest paradoxes in the entire story.
Every summer, dozens of boats leave Icelandic harbours carrying tourists who want to see whales. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, whale watching in Iceland attracts around 350,000 visitors a year. For a country with a population of roughly 400,000, that is an enormous number.
Whale watching has therefore become an important part of Iceland's tourism industry. While one part of the economy makes money by keeping whales alive in the sea, another still makes money by hunting them.
A PROTEST THAT ENDED WITH A SPECIAL POLICE UNIT RAID
The conflict escalated at the end of July, when the protest vessel Bandero, operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, entered Icelandic waters.
The crew had been monitoring Hvalur's vessels for more than a month and attempting to disrupt their hunt. When the Bandero approached the whaling vessel Hvalur 9 on July 30, Icelandic authorities said the crew ignored orders to leave the waters and later to stop the vessel.
Shortly before midnight, armed members of Iceland's special police unit, the Viking Squad, boarded the Bandero with support from the Coast Guard and a helicopter. All 21 crew members were detained and the vessel was taken to Reykjavík. The captain was later formally charged, while the other crew members faced deportation proceedings.
WHALE MEAT IS NO LONGER WHAT IT USED TO BE FOR ICELANDERS
Another problem is demand itself.
According to Le Monde, only a small proportion of Icelanders consume whale meat today, and its role in domestic cuisine is far smaller than the country's historical image as a whaling nation might suggest.
Hvalur is therefore trying to find new uses for the meat. This year, Loftsson proposed using whale products, among other things, to produce iron-rich dietary supplements. The economic potential of the idea, however, remains uncertain.
Japan also remains an important market. A significant share of Icelandic whale meat was historically exported there.
ICELAND COULD JOIN THE MAJORITY OF THE WORLD
Commercial whaling has been subject to an international moratorium imposed by the International Whaling Commission since 1986. Iceland, Norway and Japan, however, have followed their own paths.
Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006. Norway did so as early as 1993, while Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.
If Iceland's parliament approves the ban next year, it would mean not only the end of a domestic industrial tradition. Iceland would also disappear from the list of countries that still commercially hunt whales.
THE FINAL WORD HAS NOT YET BEEN SPOKEN
The ban, however, is not a reality yet.
The government plans to submit the bill in February 2027. Only then will the parliamentary debate and vote take place. In addition, Hvalur's current licence remains valid until 2029, meaning that the legal rights arising from it will also have to be addressed.
But one thing is already clear. Iceland has found itself in a peculiar situation: this year it has resumed killing whales while simultaneously preparing legislation that could permanently end commercial whaling.
For Kristján Loftsson and Hvalur, this could therefore be one of their last seasons. If parliament actually approves the ban, the history of Icelandic whaling could come to an end at the close of the decade.
And a country that for decades has been associated with hunting giant whales could begin selling a completely different story: not the whale on the plate, but the whale on the surface of the sea.
O autorovi
Island mě fascinuje už řadu let. Během mnoha cest jsem na ostrově najel desítky tisíc kilometrů, zažil bouře, které změnily plány během několika minut, i dny, kdy správné rozhodnutí o trase znamenalo vidět místa, která většina návštěvníků mine. Zkušenosti z těchto cest jsem zachytil také v dokumentárním filmu Ostrov na severu.
Na tomto webu sdílím praktické rady, aktuální informace a zkušenosti z terénu, které pomáhají ostatním cestovat po Islandu bezpečněji a s větším porozuměním místní krajině.
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