Let’s Hunt Whales – but With Cameras, Not Harpoons

For the second year in a row, Iceland will not hunt for any whales as the public opinion has changed and the consumption of whale meat has declined.

The consumption of whale meat is declining in Iceland as well as in Japan, the country’s largest importer, where the Japanese now eat only about an ounce a year on average. “The last remaining whalers seem to be making an exit,” says Patrick Ramage, director of marine conservation for IFAW. “Hunting whales with cameras delivers economic benefits to coastal communities around the world, and Iceland is pointing the way.”

Support for hunting whales has declined as the income derived from watching them has climbed: tourists come in large numbers to admire whales. For example, the small coastal village of Hauganes has a population of 137, but the number of tourists rose from 4,000 in 2015 to 17,000 by 2018. Foreign visitors were seen as a potential market for whale meat, but a campaign by IFAW and Icewhale discouraged them to try the traditional delicacy. Since 2011, the consumption of whale meat by tourists has fallen by half.