"I had no other response than a good one"

Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, announced today that whaling will be allowed with added regulation on how it is done. She added that there has been unity in the government’s opinion that the regulations will strengthen the conditions of whaling. “I had no other response than a good one to this result,” she said after a government meeting in Egilsstaðir today.

New regulation on fishing methods

The new regulation announced following today’s meeting envisages that there will be detailed and tighter requirements for hunting equipment, fishing methods and increased controls. Svavarsdóttir says that this is to meet the conclusions of the report on fin whale hunting in 2022, the opinion of the Professional Council for Animal Welfare and the report of a special work group on the evaluation of ways to reduce the number of irregularities during hunting fin whales.

Asked if the conditions are so tough that it will not be possible to hunt whales, she replied that it is not assumed, as this is a matter of proportionality.

Has Hvalur hf. been included in the formulation of these conditions?

“Hvalur got the opportunity to respond to the report and express their own suggestions and concerns.”

Whether or not whaling will be carried out in the years to come on the basis of these new criteria is not clear at this point: “It is a very different discussion and a different decision. We are now working on the implementation of the permit in force from the time of my predecessor’s departure, which expires at the end of the next year.”

MAST, The Food Veterinary Authority and The Directorate of Fisheries are expected to cooperate in monitoring the implementation of the whaling permit that goes into effect tomorrow. The agencies are then expected to report to the ministry at the end of the whaling season, summarizing the main findings of the monitoring of whaling in 2023.

“This will be important data for both the agencies and the ministry that are generated during this whaling season. I have stressed all along that we collect as much data as possible. It has not necessarily been a model for carrying out this kind of fishing without being well controlled by the government,” says Svavarsdóttir.

The MAST report was received late

It was announced on June 20, shortly before the start of the whaling season, that a temporary ban would be imposed on the hunting. The decision was made after MAST concluded that the implementation of the hunt in the summer of 2022 was not in line with the objectives of the Animal Welfare Act. The agency’s report was published on May 8 or seven to eight months after the end of the hunting season.

Does the Minister consider it acceptable that the report was received so late? “No, I don’t think so. It took too long, and this cannot be the way we consider the season that is now beginning.”

However,in view of the situation when the report was published, Svavarsdóttir believes that there were no other option than to to take charge of the fishing. “I thought I was in a very tight position at this point, and I did not think it was acceptable to let the season begin without further investigation of the situation. Mostly, whether the fishing practice could be improved by some of the changes or adjustments that might reduce these irregularities.”

Ban on a legitimate basis

The owners of Hvalur hf. and their staff have criticized Svavarsdóttir for the ban on the whaling shortly before the start of the summer season.

“I make decisions on a professional and legitimate basis, as I am used to, and in accordance with good administration and this was no departure from those procedures,” Svavarsdóttir says of the criticism. She also says she sympathizes with the people who were involved in the loss of income due to the decision.