No Legal or Scientific Justification for U.S. Actions due to Icelandic Whaling Activities
Press Release from the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland
No Legal or Scientific Justification for U.S. Actions due to Icelandic Whaling Activities
Jón Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland, today said that there is no legal or scientific justification for actions to be taken by the U.S. due to Icelandic whaling activities. Last July, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce certified Iceland under the so-called Pelly Amendment and recommended to the U.S. President that diplomatic actions be taken against Iceland due to Icelandic whaling activities. Yesterday, the President decided to follow the proposal of the Secretary of Commerce and further announced that no trade measures be applied.
Iceland´s whaling activities are fully lawful and its international trade in whale products is in accordance with its international obligations. There can be no doubt that Icelandic whaling for minke whales and fin whales is sustainable and based on best scientific information. There is therefore no legal or scientific basis for the Pelly Amendment certification of Iceland and the diplomatic actions contemplated.
“The U.S. authorities are not consistent when they criticize Iceland for its fin whale hunting on the one hand and ask for the support of Iceland and other member countries of the International Whaling Commission for their bowhead quota off Alaska on the other hand. Scientific information clearly shows that the Icelandic fin whale hunting is no less sustainable than the U.S. bowhead whaling“, Jon Bjarnason said today. It should be noted that the five-year U.S. bowhead quota is subject to approval by a 3/4 majority of member countries of the International Whaling Commission at its Annual Meeting in Panama in 2012.
Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland
16 September 2011