Iceland Caretaker Cabinet Issues Contentious Whaling Permits (1)

Iceland’s caretaker government that lost a general election last weekend took a controversial decision to grant licenses to two companies for hunting whales.

Five-year permits to catch minke whales were granted to fishing companies Hvalur hf and Tjaldtangi ehf, the Ministry for Food and Fisheries said in a statement on its website on Thursday.

Iceland is one of just three countries in the world, along with Norway and Japan, to have allowed commercial whaling in recent years. A suspension that lasted most of the hunting season in 2023 caused strife in the outgoing coalition and the decision is likely ...