Who profits from whaling?
It’s illegal to import and export whale meat through the EU, and quite rightly so.
So it must be illegal for EU countries and companies to profit from the movement of whale meat from Iceland to Japan also? Apparently not.
As we noted last night, WDC is closely monitoring the movements of the Cosco Pride, which on Friday, the 5th July, entered the port of Hamburg with a cargo of meat from endangered fin whales, slaughtered in recent days and weeks off Iceland.
The Hong Kong-flagged container ship had followed its regular route which includes Felixstowe and Rotterdam, at which latter port the whale meat is believed to have been transferred onto the Cosco Pride from another vessel, reportedly owned by the Samskip company and which had brought the meat from Iceland. It is believed that the Cosco Pride’s onward voyage will take her via Antwerp to her home port of Hong Kong, but that the whale meat is ultimately destined for Japanese markets.
So it would appear that the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Antwerp will all profit from this vessel carrying whale meat, as I anticipate that the Cosco Pride will have paid a fee to use each port. Maybe they serviced this vessel for free, but I am guessing maybe not.
This is a bit like banning the use of class A drugs, but approving of the dealing in these very same drugs!
The EU Commission, Parliament and Council need to end this loophole once and for all.
EU law requires the EU members to strictly protect whales and dolphins and this act is directly undermining the IWC moratorium and EU law. Somebody has to take responsibility as the only person laughing at the moment is Kristjan Loftsson in Iceland.
