13 votes

Iceland's government has issued a license to the North Atlantic nation's last fin whaling company to hunt and kill 128 fin whales this year

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: conservation, iceland, biology.marine, whaling, fisheries, oceans, atlantic.north, whales.fin, animal welfare, deaths.animal, government, hvalur, quotas, activism, author.sylvia hui, source.associated press, short read
https://apnews.com/article/iceland-fin-whales-whaling-license-quota-conservation-0f0244a762e901b2a11607b1ddcf19bf

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Title
Iceland issues license for 128 fin whales to be hunted this year
Published
Jun 11 2024
Word count
396 words

9 comments

  1. [8]
    Hobofarmer
    Link
    What do we actually use whales for in this day and age?

    What do we actually use whales for in this day and age?

    3 votes
    1. [7]
      mat
      Link Parent
      Eating, for one. I've seen whale on restaurant menus in Iceland. I did not order whale. There are limits.

      Eating, for one. I've seen whale on restaurant menus in Iceland.

      I did not order whale. There are limits.

      4 votes
      1. [6]
        Hobofarmer
        Link Parent
        There's plenty of other foodstuffs. I don't find that a compelling argument, even if you go the "it's traditional!" route.

        There's plenty of other foodstuffs. I don't find that a compelling argument, even if you go the "it's traditional!" route.

        1 vote
        1. [5]
          mat
          Link Parent
          I didn't say I agreed with it, just that is one use for a whale. I think one can make a pretty good argument for taking a few whales for traditional purposes, I know there are First Nation peoples...

          I didn't say I agreed with it, just that is one use for a whale.

          I think one can make a pretty good argument for taking a few whales for traditional purposes, I know there are First Nation peoples in Canada who have non-eating uses for whale bits (I'm sure I remember there's a tattooing procedure which is traditionally done with whale tendons) - there may be similar in Icelandic culture too. Keeping culture alive is not a bad thing to do. But 128 seems like way too many whales for that. Especially in a country with a total population in the region of a moderately large town.

          7 votes
          1. [3]
            unkz
            Link Parent
            Hard disagree. Culture isn't an inherent good -- there are good practises and bad practises, and we should get rid of bad practises. Invoking "traditional purposes" boils down to "we've been doing...

            Keeping culture alive is not a bad thing to do.

            Hard disagree. Culture isn't an inherent good -- there are good practises and bad practises, and we should get rid of bad practises. Invoking "traditional purposes" boils down to "we've been doing it for a while" -- is that really an argument or just a statement?

            7 votes
            1. mat
              Link Parent
              I wasn't actually making an argument because I don't have enough information. I was saying it might be possible to do so. So yes, it was just a statement. Obviously it does depends a huge amount...

              Invoking "traditional purposes" boils down to "we've been doing it for a while" -- is that really an argument or just a statement?

              I wasn't actually making an argument because I don't have enough information. I was saying it might be possible to do so. So yes, it was just a statement.

              Obviously it does depends a huge amount on what the cultural practice in question is. I don't know what Icelandic culture does with whales, other than eating them. Might just be that, in which case it's probably not a piece of culture worth preserving. Might be interesting and unique artworks, cultural artifacts or other practises, which I suggest would make a more compelling argument for some limited whaling.

              I very much doubt there's anything that could justify - at least to me - the killing 128 entire whales a year. That just seems excessive. Not that Iceland needs to justify anything to me, of course. I'm not the boss of Iceland.

              5 votes
            2. EditingAndLayout
              Link Parent
              As a person living in the deep American South, there are plenty of reminders around here of what was normal and accepted in our "culture" just 150 years ago. Some cultures and cultural norms...

              As a person living in the deep American South, there are plenty of reminders around here of what was normal and accepted in our "culture" just 150 years ago. Some cultures and cultural norms deserve to disappear.

              4 votes
          2. updawg
            Link Parent
            This is going to sound fairly racist, because it pretty much is, but to be completely honest, it kind of feels like "all the other white people gave up their traditional will stuff, so why can't...

            This is going to sound fairly racist, because it pretty much is, but to be completely honest, it kind of feels like "all the other white people gave up their traditional will stuff, so why can't Iceland?" I'm not expressing this as a firmly held belief or anything, it's just something that kind of pops up in my head that I feel can trigger some decent discussion. I think the main thought that it's really expressing is that it seems like Iceland and Japan (and maybe Norway?) seem to have gotten passes on these things because they just never agreed to them in the first place.

            2 votes