ICELAND: A balanced whaling perspective?

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...  the fact is that the number of tourists has increased, not decreased, since Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006 and apparently quite a few tourists are interested in tasting whale meat.

A whale watcher I spoke with actually said a number of people want to eat whale straight after a whale watching tour.

Why not? You can go riding and eat horse. You can enjoy watching cute little lambs jumping about in the highlands and afterwards feast on a juicy leg of lamb. After all, meat doesn’t grow in supermarkets as some people seem to believe.

It appears that environmental extremists calling for embargos on Icelandic products and refusing to travel to Iceland are only the loudest people but don’t represent the views of the majority of the world’s population.

The diplomatic outrage among world leaders due to Iceland’s resumed commercial whaling was mainly caused by the decision to hunt fin whales—an endangered species.

What I find most puzzling about the anti-whaling hysteria is that many American and Canadians, who are among the most vocal campaigners, appear to ignore the whaling that takes place in their own backyards because it’s practiced by indigenous communities.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions and if someone is against whaling altogether, that’s fine by me, as long as it is backed by viable arguments.

I often wonder, though, whether they eat meat at all or whether it’s only eating ‘cute’ and ‘intelligent’ animals that they frown upon. Or maybe they’re against eating game?

In Iceland we say margt býr í kýrhausnum (“there are many thoughts inside a cow’s head”)—cattle are generally considered wise creatures.

So maybe anti-whaling carnivores should ponder on that the next time they have beef and consider whether they wouldn’t want to give the beef of the sea a try, too.

To sum up: I’m neither pro- nor anti-whaling. Does everything have to be so black and white? Support sustainable hunting and be against the reckless killing of animals, I say.