Iceland Resumes Commercial Whaling, Issues First Permits Since 2023

Two fin whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday. The kills mark the first catches since 2023 and end a two-year hiatus.

Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough. Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.

Iceland's government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn. Iceland's Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season. That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025.

The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.

The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals. Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.