For those following the news in Iceland regarding the request for whale permits and the political situation, there’s another scarcely believable update.
On Oct. 13, incumbent Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson announced the dissolution of the coalition government of the conservative Independence Party, the center-right Progressive Party, and the leftist Greens, citing strong disagreements over migration policy. With an election date set for the 30th November, Iceland is currently governed by a caretaker government consisting of MPs from the Independence and Progressive parties but no Greens. In these situations, ahead of an election, the machinery of government ticks over, but no big policy decisions are supposed to be made. But unsurprisingly, some haven't been able to resist exploiting the current situation for their own ends.
Three applications for minke whale hunting have been submitted. Minke whales were last hunted in Iceland in 2021, with one animal being killed, and no applications for licenses were received in 2022 or 2023.
Hvalur hf., Iceland’s sole remaining whaling fleet, has a current application in for a fin whaling permit, not just for the 2025 season, but indefinitely. It was a reasonable assumption that a decision on this controversial issue wouldn’t be taken during the countdown to a general election and with a caretaker government in place. However, Benediktsson announced in a recent interview that Hvalur’s request would be reviewed by Jón Gunarsson, whom he appointed as his special representative at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
Gunarsson, an Independence party MP, was one of the most vocal critics of a temporary whaling ban announced in June 2023 by then minister of fisheries Svandís Svavarsdóttir, of the Left-Green party, so not someone who would be expected to review the Hvalur application in an unbiased way.
But it gets worse.
In a secretly recorded conversation in October, Gunnarson’s son and business partner, Gunnar Bergmann, bragged that his father had been promised a nomination on the election ballot by Benediktsson in exchange for progressing the Hvalur application. It has also since been revealed that the recording was (allegedly..!) obtained by private intelligence firm Black Cube, run by former Mossad special operatives and intelligence agents. Bergmann tried some PR damage control, saying that he didn’t have the authority to either approve or deny the Hvalur licence, but by then, the damage had been done.
With a recent poll showing that 51% of Icelanders don't believe a decision should be made on the licence before the election, this has now become an election issue itself. Even more so given that Gunarsson’s appointment is now the subject of a Parliamentary investigation, with a demand to see all correspondence relating to his appointment.
The same poll found that 40% of Icelanders believe whaling weakens its position in international trade, and this underlying opposition will doubtless be a factor in the election as well. The make-up of the Government is set to change with both the Green and Socialist parties (who oppose whaling..) slumping in the opinion polls and Social Democratic and Liberal Reform surging ahead.
Despite commercial whaling decimating whale populations globally for over a hundred years, there are still countries which think it is acceptable to hunt and kill whales for profit. Our work plays a vital role in helping to put pressure on UK and other governments to drive an end to commercial whaling globally, so please support us at www.orca.org.uk/donate to help us continue this important work.