Icelandic fin whaler plans to ship whale meat to Japan via Angola

In a move that is both highly controversial and provocative, Iceland’s sole fin whaler, Kristjan Loftsson, is preparing to ship 1,700 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan via the port of Luanda in Angola, off the southwest coast of Africa.

Icelandic media report that his whaling company, Hvalur hf, loaded the meat onto  the Winter Bay  around a fortnight ago, but the boat remains in harbour at Hafnarfjordur, south of Reykjavik, allegedly due to mechanical problems. This time last year, Loftsson shipped 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan aboard the Alma, taking a circuitous route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Icelandic whalers hunt both fin and minke whales under a disputed ‘reservation’ to the International Whaling Commission’s ban on commercial whaling.  This year’s minke whaling season has already started, with at least 2 whales killed, and the fin whaling season opens in June. Last year, 137 endangered fin whales and 24 minke whales were killed.

Whale watching is many times more profitable than whaling in Iceland. Please support our campaign to see Iceland famous as a Whale Nation, not a whaling nation!