“Australian government should urge Iceland to suspend whaling" -Greenpeace

Despite news of the hunt receiving widespread international opposition from environmentalists, Iceland’s tourism industry and major firms that purchase Icelandic products, as well as from the governments of United States, Germany, Britain, France, Finland and Sweden (1), the government seems paralysed.

“Iceland’s government has fallen asleep on the whaling issue”, said Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Reece Turner. “Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and Fisheries Minister Jón Bjarnason are squandering a chance to save Iceland’s environmental and international reputation as well as its eligibility for joining the EU”.

Whaling and EU membership are incompatible – the EU is likely to request that Iceland end whaling, as on of the conditions of accession. Iceland’s government is currently asking the country’s lawmakers to back moves towards joining the European Union, and according to opinion polls carried out by an Icelandic newspaper earlier this month(2), the majority of people want EU accession negotiations to commence.

"The Australian government should not wait for the EU to act on the matter. Environment Minister Peter Garrett should urge Iceland to suspend its whaling operations. Ending whaling in Iceland will isolate Japan further on the whaling issue, and help the international community to pressure Japan more effectively to give up scientific whaling" Mr Turner concluded.
 
Japan has hunted over 11,00 whales since the start of the "so called" scientific whaling program.