Iceland has suspended the operations of one in every of its two whaling vessels for taking too lengthy to kill a fin whale, the authorities and the boat’s proprietor stated on Friday.
The authorities two weeks in the past ended a two-month pause in whaling that had been imposed after a report concluded that killing whales took longer than Iceland’s animal welfare legislation allowed.
Although it imposed stricter laws and surveillance to be able to restrict the whales’ struggling, there have been nonetheless protests from animal welfare campaigners and Hollywood stars together with Leonardo DiCaprio.
An inspection carried out on Sept. 7 on the Hvalur 8 ship discovered {that a} harpooned fin whale had not died till it was harpooned once more half an hour later, somewhat than being hit once more instantly as new guidelines require, the Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) stated on Thursday.
Kristján Loftsson, CEO of Iceland’s solely whaling firm, Hvalur hf., stated the delay had been attributable to a malfunction of the harpoon’s winch.
The vessel can’t resume searching till the issue is solved, MAST stated.
Whaling season in Iceland lasts from mid-June to late September and nearly all of the whale meat is bought to Japan.
Last yr, 148 fin whales had been caught round Iceland, on common dying inside 11.5 minutes of being harpooned, though one took two hours to die, MAST stated in its report launched in May.
Last week, two protesters chained themselves to the masts of the Hvalur 8 and its sister ship, protecting them in harbour for 33 hours, Icelandic media reported.
(Reuters – Reporting by Johannes Birkebaek; enhancing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Kevin Liffey)
