There will be no whaling of the coast of Iceland this summer primarily because there has been great difficulty getting the product, whale meat, sold on markets in Japan according to Morgunblaðið. Hvalur hf. is the only company in Iceland in the business of whaling, primarily hunting the Fin Whale for Japanese markets. Kristján Loftsson, executive director of Hvalur hf. says the company has met with ceaseless obstructions in Japan, stating that the Japanese have been conducting endless analyzation on the meat products with old-fashioned and time-consuming methods that are not conducted anywhere else in the world. He goes on to say that if this doesn’t end Hvalur hf. will not be able to go on whaling for the Japanese marked, its main consumer. They have tired a variety of ways to resolve them matter he goes on, the ambassador and ministers have tried to intermediate to no avail. Whaling in Iceland is therefore automatically brought to a halt. Loftsson goes on to say that Hvalur hf. would never have resumed whaling in 2009, after a 20-year pause if it would have been known then what to expect in the Japanese markets. One hundred and fifty-five Fin Whales were hunted of the coast of Iceland last year.
