Links between fishing and whaling in Iceland strengthen

The links between Iceland’s fishing industry and its whaling activities has strengthened with the news that Kristjan Loftsson, chief executive of Iceland’s biggest whaling company, Hvalur hf, has been elected Chairman of the Board of HB Grandi, one of Iceland’s largest fishing companies.

The appointment this month follows the recent death of previous HB Grandi chairman, Árni Vilhjálmsson. The new appointment potentially tightens the bond between these two companies which have collaborated previously. In the past, Hvalur has made use of HB Grandi facilities to process the fin whales it has caught. Loftsson has declared Hvalur’s intention to resume fin whaling this season; whilst HB Grandi recently announced a dramatic fall in their overall net profit to 14.9 million euro in 2012, compared to 37 million euro in 2011.