Iceland halts whaling for 2025

No whales will be killed this year in Iceland. And perhaps not in the future, so much so that those who have been fighting for years to stop this practice, like Captain Paul Watson and his foundation, are going out on a limb in saying that "whaling in Iceland is over" and that we have reached a "historic" point in the battle. The reason for the announcement by several environmental associations, who are celebrating, is linked to an unprecedented double decision: currently in Iceland only two major companies still practice whaling and have been authorized, for a limited number of specimens, to kill large cetaceans, but both have somehow decided to take a step back.

The reasons are economic

One of the two historic companies, Hvalur Hf, through its CEO, Kristján Loftsson , who has been running the family business for decades, had already explained weeks ago that it had taken the decision not to hunt and to suspend all activity in 2025. The reason? The collapse of demand from Japan, where Iceland exports most of its whale products.

Together with Norway and Iceland, Japan is in fact one of the countries in the world where hunting is legal and practiced but, evidently, even in the Land of the Rising Sun things are gradually changing, so much so that requests are decreasing. Prices are low, logistics, transport and storage are complicated and consequently Hvalur, despite having collected permits until almost the end of this decade, will not hunt anymore for now.

The total halt for this year, however, is due to the choice of another company that was licensed in Iceland to kill whales for commercial purposes, but which has just decided to sell its whaling vessel, a symptom according to the Paul Watson Foundation of the "collapse" of this fishing industry.

Environmentalists rejoice: “A milestone”

We are now in the second consecutive year that, between delays in permits, opposition and postponements, the hunt for whales in Iceland has not taken place but it is the first time that it has been explicitly suspended for economic reasons, while at the same time the front against hunting is growing among the Icelandic public opinion, a tradition that for many is now outdated.

While it is true that the government has not yet definitively banned hunting for the future, the two signals just arrived from Iceland indicate, according to environmentalists - who continue to ask for a total ban - an important message of hope. This phase is therefore "a milestone" they write on social media of the Paul Watson Foundation, even if they promise not to lower their guard until a "definitive stop".

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation association is also happy: "No whaling in Iceland this summer! The fact that the last remaining whaling company is also selling its boat means something incredible: there is officially no whaling. A big thank you to those who supported this fight."