Will Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir ban whaling or issue a new license?
When Prime minister Katrín jakobsdóttir resigned last week to run for President, Svandis Svavarsdottir former Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries transferred to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, also member of the Left green party, became Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
The situation today is that the The Food and Veterinary agency fined Hvalur hf. for a violation of animal welfare laws when 30 minutes passed between shots on a fin whale in September last year, they are currently working on a report on last year's hunts that is expected to be released soon.
Former Prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir appointed a committee to review the legal environment and administration of whaling, as well as compliance with international obligations and treaties. However, the committee´s report is not expected until this autumn at the earliest.
In 2019, the new Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir criticized the decision of former minister Kristján Þórs Júlíusson, for issuing a new whaling license with the words:
"There are few indications that whaling will ever reach its previous business status and there is even less chance that whalehunting will gain recognition from international organizations in the field of environmental protection".
This is unequivocal criticism that the minister must stand up to, as there is no indication that the situation has changed.
It's safe to assume that the Minister cares about Iceland's image and economy.
Filmmakers around the world sent a challenge to the Minister of Food in September last year, where they said they'd boycott Iceland with their film projects if Iceland does not stop whaling, among the 500 signatories are James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Darren Aronofsky, Jason Momoa, Asa Butterfield, Dame Fran Walsh, Dame Jane Champion and Hillary Swank.
Icelandic filmmakers also sent out a list of signatures:
"We, the undersigned, who work in the Icelandic film industry, want to draw attention to the impact that continued whaling will have on our work and the country's image. With that in mind, we ask the Icelandic government to reconsider its decision on whaling permits," says a statement on behalf of the group.
On the signature lists, you can find a number of well-known names in the film industry, that around 500 people have signed. The list includes Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, Högni Egilsson, Brynhildur Guðjónsdóttir and Baltasar Kormákur.
Members of the tourism industry are also deeply concerned. In an interview last year, Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, executive director of The Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF), said that the industry is wary of large cancellations, and he believes that 7-10,000 tourists cancel their plans to travel to Iceland every year that they hunts whales. Rannveig Grétarsdóttir, chairman of the whale-watching company Elding and chairman of the Icelandic Whale Watching Association, agrees and is seriously concerned about the impact of whaling on whale-watching companies and considers them to be shunned in research and discussions about the impact of whaling.
Last year there was a huge amount of coverage in international media about Iceland's whaling. Millions of people read this interview with Kristján Loftsson, owner of Hvals hf. Árni Finnsson, chairman of the Icelandic Nature Conservation Association, and Valgerður Árnadóttir, spokeswoman for Hvalavinir, which was the most read story in The Guardian for a whole week. Even more people heard about this from BBC, CNN claimed that as of this year, whaling will be banned off Iceland's coasts for a long time.
The journalists of these news media are in regular contact with Hvalavinir and are waiting for news. The international community is watching and Hvalavinir´s petition to ban whaling now has 628.000 signatures and will be activated again to draw attention to the fact that there is still no conclusion in the case.
There are many reasons why people oppose whaling. Mostly they care about animal welfare, hunting methods are such that it is not possible to guarantee the humane killing of whales.
That alone should be enough to ban hunting, but in addition, the economic foundation of hunting has long been undermined.
Hvalur hf., the last operating whaling company in Iceland lost three billion on whaling in the last decade. Tourists who care about nature and animal welfare are reluctant to visit Iceland and the film industry, which has undergone a massive development in Iceland the past 20 years with good results for the country's image and economy, is at risk.
We challenge Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, not to issue a new hunting license and to advocate for whaling to be banned.
Hvalavinir
Image: Peggy Oki art installation