Falling demand saves whales
Market forces have achieved what international laws could not. Iceland, one of the prominent defaulters of the International Whaling Commission (iwc), has had to put a stop to whaling due to the falling demand for whale meat. Icelandic fisheries minister Einar Guofinnsson says whaling quotas will not be renewed after the current one expires on August 31. In October 2006, Iceland set a quota of 39 endangered whales for commercial whaling despite an international ban. Of that, it hunted 14 whales, but up till now the whale meat has not been sold. Experts say the market was slack because Iceland did not have a licence to export to Japan, the largest whale-market.