Icelandic whaler may have offloaded whale meat before US imposes sanctions

Just day before US President Obama’s office is due to announce what sanctions the US will impose against Iceland for its continuing hunting and trade of fin whales, WDC received news of a potential shipment of 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat out of Iceland. 

WDC sources reported that whale meat was apparently being loaded onto the reefer Alma, moored at Hafnarfjordur, near Reykjavik and believed to be bound for Japan.  Iceland’s main whaler, Kristjan Loftsson stockpiles his company’s fin whale meat here and was reportedly in the area in recent days.  Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Iceland’s Foreign Affairs minister claimed ignorance of the shipment when questioned in the Icelandic Parliament, the Althingi, this morning.

The US government is due to announce what action will be taken against Iceland and its continued fin whaling activities, which undermine international agreements like the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Recently, WDC also reported the transshipment of Loftsson’s whale meat across Canada by rail.

WDC is tracking the shipmment and will report further inofrmation as it becomes available.