Whaler Iceland Dimisses "Survival of the Cutest"
Date: 27-Jun-08
Country: CHILE
Author: Simon Gardner
Along with World No.1 whaler Japan and Norway, Iceland defies a 1986 moratorium on whaling, and assigns itself its own annual whale catch quota. It argues many nations act too emotionally on the deeply divisive issue.
"There is no reason to treat whales differently from any other animals," Stefan Asmundsson, Iceland's commissioner at the International Whaling Commission, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the body's annual meeting in Chile.
"Iceland does not subscribe to the principle of survival of the cutest. We subscribe to the principle of sustainable utilization," he added. "Sustainable utilization of animals is a recognized principle all over the world."
Shortly after he spoke, a lone protester locked himself to the doors of the Sheraton hotel where the conference is being held with a motorcycle chain, chanting "No more whaling. Japan, Iceland, Norway -- whale killers!" before police whisked him away.
Anti-whaling nations like Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and a host of Latin American nations on Wednesday decried Japan's circumvention of the moratorium and its annual catch of 1,000 whales for "scientific research".
'ICONIC ANIMALS'?
Iceland halted whaling in 1989 but resumed in 2003, and has given itself the right to catch 40 Minke whales this year for commercial purposes. It argues stocks of whales around its waters are sufficiently abundant to allow sustainable whaling.
"If you have a cultural preference not to eat whale meat, that's fine. I'm not saying everyone needs to eat whale meat, but it's a normal part of the diet in many parts of the world," Asmundsson said.
"Some countries like to treat whales in a different manner, basically saying some animals are more equal than others," he added. "Deer hunting is not considered to be a big thing in the same way as whaling is, but in both cases you are hunting mammals."
While ignoring the moratorium, Iceland, like Norway and Japan, has opted to stay within the International Whaling Commission, which conservationists put down to politics and diplomacy.
"Many countries, especially Western countries ... look at whales as somehow iconic animals, special animals that are outside the animal kingdom and cannot be treated as animals normally are," Asmundsson said.
"Opposition to whaling is very often presented as environmentalism. But if you are talking about opposition to a sustainable practice, there is absolutely no environmental factor against this kind of whaling. This is more to do with what you could call animal rights."
(Editing by Sandra Maler)