A shipment of 130 tonnes of fin whale meat has been returned to Iceland, as jubilant animal rights activists highlighted the "pointlessness" of the trade.
TV pictures showed the boat returning to its original port of Reykjavik laden with the meat, followed by a boat chartered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The boat carrying the meat from 10 whales originally left the Icelandic capital in June before docking in Rotterdam, then Hamburg. But before its scheduled departure for Japan, the Dutch maritime transporter Samskip announced it had agreed with other carriers not to export the meat, and would instead send it back to Iceland. The company also promised not to carry whale meat in future.
Iceland only resumed the hunting of fin whales - the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale - this year, after suspending whaling in 2011 and 2012, partly because its largest market, Japan, was suffering from an economic downturn.
The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling, but this is not recognised by Iceland. Japan says it hunts only for scientific purposes: it's currently battling Australia at the International Court in the Hague, over that ridiculous claim.
I can just imagine the cursing coming out of Kristjan Loftsson's mouth right now!!
TV pictures showed the boat returning to its original port of Reykjavik laden with the meat, followed by a boat chartered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.The boat carrying the meat from 10 whales originally left the Icelandic capital in June before docking in Rotterdam, then Hamburg. But before its scheduled departure for Japan, the Dutch maritime transporter Samskip announced it had agreed with other carriers not to export the meat, and would instead send it back to Iceland. The company also promised not to carry whale meat in future.
Iceland only resumed the hunting of fin whales - the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale - this year, after suspending whaling in 2011 and 2012, partly because its largest market, Japan, was suffering from an economic downturn.
The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling, but this is not recognised by Iceland. Japan says it hunts only for scientific purposes: it's currently battling Australia at the International Court in the Hague, over that ridiculous claim.
I can just imagine the cursing coming out of Kristjan Loftsson's mouth right now!!
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