Karim Iliya

Urge Iceland to end whaling!

June 20, 2026: Iceland’s gruesome whale hunt has just begun. Iceland is one of only three countries in the world that still hunts whales commercially, defying a global commercial moratorium. Up to 318 fin and minke whales could be killed this year.

There is virtually no demand for whale meat within Iceland. Whales already face multiple threats in the ocean from entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes, pollution and climate change. To kill them with exploding harpoons for meat that nobody needs, and in defiance of the global moratorium, is unacceptable.

Earlier this year, Iceland’s Minister of Industries pledged to introduce a bill to ban whaling. Now, the Icelandic Government has officially confirmed a bill to consider a whaling ban, and it will be laid before Parliament in February 2027. This is welcome progress, but there is a long way to go before a bill becomes law, and in the meantime, whales will suffer and die unless action is taken.

Please urge the Icelandic Government to end commercial whaling and introduce a strong bill to ban whaling in February 2027.

Your message

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Minister

Hanna Katrin

Fridriksson

Iceland

atrn

Iceland

Dear Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir,

I write to you, along with citizens from countries around the world, and as a supporter of Humane World for Animals, to warmly welcome your government’s published confirmation that a legislative bill will be introduced in February 2027 to consider a ban on commercial whaling. This is a tremendous milestone in efforts to consign to history the cruel and needless killing of whales. However, I am horrified that the hunting of whales continues in Icelandic waters. With the immense suffering these sentient ocean giants experience during the hunt, even the death of a single whale is a moral failure. Pregnant mother whales continue to be slaughtered along with their unborn calves, and a report by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority found that in past hunts, 41% of whales took an average of 11 and half minutes to die, with some whales harpooned multiple times, leading to unimaginable and prolonged suffering. Others took up to two hours to die. This is totally unacceptable.    

The fin whales targeted by Iceland’s hunts are classified by the IUCN as globally vulnerable to extinction. Great whales also provide vital ecosystem services, including sequestering carbon and thereby combating climate change. Our global community must come together to reduce all human-induced causes of whale deaths for the collective wellbeing of both whales and humankind. Furthermore, Iceland can benefit far more from whale watching than whale killing in terms of profitability, ecological sustainability and consideration of animal welfare.    

The world watches in horror as whales continue to suffer and die for Iceland’s hunts. I urge you to take all and any action available to you to introduce the strongest bill possible to end this cruelty once and for all. Let this be the beginning of the end of the slaughter of these magnificent animals in Icelandic waters.      

Yours sincerely,

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