Iceland responds to int'l opposition against whaling

Senior officials of Iceland defended the country's whaling policy Tuesday, responding to a recent international demarche issued by some 30 countries against Iceland's whaling.

Iceland's Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson Tuesday described some new members of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as "ignorant".

The European Union (EU) led a joint multi-country opposition against the Icelandic government's permission for commercial whale hunting and trading Monday.

"Our whaling is completely in accordance with NAMMCO," the minister was quoted by Icelandic National Broadcasting Radio and TV (RUV) as saying.

"Iceland has a principle to manage the marine resources in a responsible and sustainable way," said the minister.

The NAMMCO and the IWC have new members that might not know so much about Iceland's sustainable whaling policy, the minister said, stressing that "We need to give a decent response to the criticism."

Iceland has a quota for catching fin whales and minke whales. The recommended maximum annual catch of minke whales is 229 and 154 fin whales, according to the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture.

"Our whaling is completely in accordance with NAMMCO," said the minister, noting that the countries criticizing Iceland should consider their own use of fishing resources.

In another interview with RUV, Iceland's Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson said,"we have proved in the past that we pursue sustainable fisheries and the utilization of our natural resources including the whale."

"I also want to urge those nations who delivered the demarche to look at the conditions at home, regard to nature, utilization, pollution, human rights and other things," the foreign minister said.