The Invisible Hand Drops Its Harpoon

Iceland halts whale hunt due to low demand

After resuming commercial whaling just under a year ago, Iceland's fisheries minister said recently that his country will not issue new whale-hunting quotas until there's more demand for whale-derived products and until Iceland gets an export license to send whale meat to Japan. "There is no reason to continue commercial whaling if there is no demand for the product," fisheries minister Einar Guofinnsson said. "If there is no profitability there is no foundation for resuming with the killing of whales." This whaling season, Iceland's quota was 39 whales, but it harpooned just 14 due to low demand.