The chairman of the Icelandic Fisheries Association (SFS, formerly LÍÚ), Ólafur H. Marteinsson, told Morgunblaðið on March 14: "As far as the capelin population is concerned, it is absolutely obvious that much greater consideration must be given to whale predation than has been done." However, he added that humpback whales are actually protected, and therefore, it is forbidden to hunt them.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) granted protection to humpback whales in the North Atlantic in the autumn of 1954. Iceland did not issue a reservation to the IWC’s decision and is therefore bound by it. On the other hand, Iceland initially opposed the protection of fin whales in the North Atlantic when the IWC extended protection to that species a year later. However, the Icelandic government withdrew its objection in 1960 after 37 fin whales had been hunted in defiance of the commission’s decision.
Changes to the 1986 Scientific Whaling Program
At a meeting of the Althingi on March 17, 1986, the Minister of Fisheries at the time outlined changes to the proposed plan for scientific whaling. One of these changes, number 9, stated: "Plans for potential experimental hunts of protected whale species, such as humpback whales and fin whales, have been removed from the program."
Iceland rejoined the International Whaling Commission in 2002 after a 10-year absence. Upon rejoining, Iceland unilaterally stipulated that it would not be bound by the IWC’s 1982 decision imposing a zero-quota whaling ban, which took effect in the North Atlantic in 1986. However, Iceland did not issue any reservation regarding the IWC’s 1954 decision to protect humpback whales. The same applied to the protection of fin whales, which Iceland formally accepted in 1960.
It is therefore meaningless to suggest hunting humpback whales to assess capelin stocks in their stomachs. Such methods have not yielded reliable results. For instance, one can refer to a response from Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Guðfinnsson in September 2008 to a parliamentary question from Jón Gunnarsson about "scientific whaling of minke whales."
The minister’s brief response was: "It is premature to present figures on the total predation of minke whales on specific food sources until all samples have been fully processed and regional variations, among other factors, have been accounted for in a multi-species model. However, it is evident that cod, haddock, and other demersal fish appear to constitute a much larger proportion of the minke whale’s diet than previously thought, at least during the period in question."
The minister also informed the Althingi, at Jón Gunnarsson’s request, that it was unclear "when the results would be published, as this is a complex project that requires consideration of recent changes in Icelandic marine conditions."
Research on the stomach contents of minke whales, costing hundreds of millions of krónur, is still unavailable 17 years later. Furthermore, scientists at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Hafró) have yet to provide estimates on how many minke whales would need to be hunted to significantly impact fish stocks in Icelandic waters.
On January 29, 2019, Minister of Fisheries Kristján Þór Júlíusson informed the Althingi that no definitive conclusions could be drawn:
"As the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has stated… our experts in this field have repeatedly emphasized that questions regarding predation are extremely difficult to answer. Our knowledge of the interactions within the ecosystem remains very limited. Iceland’s fisheries management strategy has been, and still is today, based on the status and condition of individual species rather than the dynamics of the ecosystem as a whole."
Capelin Shortage: A Serious Issue
Fishermen, fish-processing workers, municipalities, and the entire country face significant economic losses due to the capelin shortage. However, there is no indication that humpback whales are the primary cause—no more than seals or seabirds, for example. It is far more likely that rising sea temperatures are responsible for changes in capelin migration patterns. Nonetheless, it is up to the management of fishing companies to address the climate crisis and take responsibility for their own emissions.
The real question now is whether it is time for fisheries industry leaders to face the facts about ocean conditions instead of relying on outdated claims that whales are depleting commercial fish stocks.
This article was published in Morgunblaðið, Saturday, March 29, 2025
