The International Whaling Commission published its annual report of the scientific committee last month.  Included in the report is an evaluation of the progress of Iceland’s whaling program carried out by scientific permit. The section concerning Iceland is about three pages and mainly focuses on the failure of the Marine Research Institute to follow the sampling procedures that were outlined at the program’s inception. In the original design, whaling was to be done in waters both near the coastline and far away in deeper waters. In the three years since whaling has resumed in Iceland, nearly all of the 101 Minke whales taken have been killed in coastal areas, thereof several in Whale Watching Areas. Bad weather was the only excuse given as to why no whales have been taken in areas far off the coastline. In order to salvage the sampling scheme originally proposed, the whalers will need to take a large fraction of the remaining 100 Minke whales from offshore waters. In some cases where the sampling is beyond repair (eg. the West Fjords), this will not even be possible. 

The sampling is important, since faulty sampling methods can cause misleading results, for example in discovering the whales actual diet. This concern is legitimate considering that the main argument of the pro-whaling community is that the whales’ consumption of cod is too high. The report also mentions a high strike-and-miss rate, meaning five out of thirty-nine (or 13%) of the Minke whales killed in 2005 were lost by the vessels, and not even hauled in for processing.

This recent criticism of Icelandic whaling only adds to the controversial nature of a progam that some believe does not have objective science as its driving force. During the whaling program, the Marine Research Institute allows no objective observers on the ships, and keeps the locations and agendas of the vessels confidential. Meanwhile, many biologists admit that nearly all of the same information can be obtained without killing the animal. The quota for Icelandic whaling this year has been increased to 50 Minke whales, in order to finish the whaling program by 2007. It is uncertain what effect the whaling under scientific permit will have for the future of whales, the whale watching, or Iceland’s tourism industry.

The full report can be accessed at:  http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/sci_com/SCRepFiles2006/SCREPNEW-GPD.pdf
The section relevant to Iceland begins on page 72.