At its annual meeting in Akureyri this year, the Icelandic Travel Association passed a resolution asking the Icelandic government to stop all plans for future whaling as it is harming the image of Iceland, an image that is "meant to be protected and defended".

The annual meeting of the association took place last month at the Hotel KEA/Ketilhusi in Akureyri. The meeting passed six resolutions, including one urging the Icelandic government to stop plans for future whaling and protect Iceland’s image internationally as an important natural resource. It reports that whaling is damaging Iceland’s image internationally.

This protest from travel companies against Iceland’s commercial whaling programme follows earlier condemnation from the tour industry there when Iceland resumed scientific whaling in 2003. Recently other big businesses have expressed concern that Iceland’s image is suffering internationally as a result of its return to commercial whaling. Whilst the Prime Minister has stated that his government has not decided if it will let the commercial whaling continue, the Icelandic government has issued permits to four vessels to kill 39 minkes for its "scientific" whaling programme, according to the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

WDCS recently launched a campaign calling for UK supermarkets and fish suppliers to pledge that the fish they source from Iceland doesn’t come from Icelandic fishing companies with links to Iceland’s whaling industry.

Click here to visit our international Stop Bloody Whaling campaign website.

Source: WDCS ©