01 Sep 2026
Photo by Himmel S Icelandic voters have rejected a proposal to resume negotiations on joining the European Union, in a referendum that turned heavily on fears for the country’s fishing industry. Final results published on Sunday showed 53.0% backing the No campaign against 47.0% for Yes, on turnout of 84.2%. Other outlets reported the split slightly […]
10 Dec 2024
Animal rights and environmental groups have denounced the move by Iceland’s outgoing government to issue new permits that allow 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales to be caught during each year’s whaling season, which runs from June to September. The country is one of only three in the world that still allows whaling – […]
12 Nov 2024
Iceland’s last active whaling company, Hvalur hf., recently applied for an indefinite whale hunting licence, causing disagreement amongst the ministers in Iceland’s caretaker government over whether or not they will approve the application. While the country granted a one-year licence to Hvalur to kill more than 100 fin whales earlier this year for this hunting […]
15 Jun 2024
Iceland’s government has issued a licence to hunt whales. The licence for the 2024 hunting season allows the Hvalur company to kill 128 fin whales. The government said the company was now permitted to hunt “99 whales in the Greenland/West Iceland region and 29 whales in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands region, totalling 128 whales”. A […]
05 Sep 2023
The Icelandic government has announced that commercial whaling can resume after the activity was suspended for more than two months. Commercial hunting of fin whales can resume but with stricter requirements on hunting methods and increased supervision, the government said. In June, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, postponed this year’s planned whale […]
20 Dec 2022
The Arctic Pearl is the first vessel for more than 30 years to be given the go-ahead to harvest Iceland scallop from the rich habitats found in Norwegian waters. The seabed harvesting technology installed on board is entirely new and cannot be compared with any other kinds of bottom fishing gear currently in use. It […]
23 Apr 2019
A five-fold expansion in open net fish farms that scientists believe could decimate Iceland’s wild salmon stocks is pitting Big Aquaculture against ecologists in the country. Next month, a parliamentary bill in Iceland is expected to extend farm licenses from 10 to 16 years, while omitting critics from oversight panels and handing primary monitoring powers […]
19 Jan 2019
A plan to ban single-use plastic products such as disposable plates and straws has been agreed. EU member states and the EU parliament still have to give the provisional agreement the go-ahead. European lawmakers have reached an agreement on a ban of single-use plastic products, the Austrian presidency said in Brussels on Wednesday. The move is […]
