The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) regularly monitors whaling companies’ compliance with Icelandic laws on animal welfare, thanks to new regulations implemented by Fisheries Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir. To do. The Fisheries Department conducts monitoring. He is the only company actively whaling in Iceland, and Svandis has suggested that his license will not be renewed after 2023.
The fisheries department will be responsible for sending inspectors on whaling trips, making video recordings of whaling methods, and keeping records of them, according to a government notice. All test data will be sent to the supervising veterinarian. The Directorate also monitors whaling vessels’ compliance with licensing requirements, such as fishing gear regulations.
“We are pleased to see these key agencies cooperating with the inspections,” Svandís said. “The expertise is there and the data collected can confirm whether whaling is being done in accordance with the law.” Regulations are already in force and monitoring will begin soon. The notice does not specify whether investigators will accompany all whaling surveys.
Iceland will resume whaling in June 2022 after a four-year hiatus. In an editorial published in the Morgunblaðið newspaper, Svandís said there was little evidence that the practice was economically beneficial for Iceland. Svandis says there is little reason to allow whaling after that license has expired.
A post about an animal welfare inspector joining a whaling ship first appeared in the Iceland Review.
