Icelanders Can Hunt Whales If They Want

Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Guðfinnsson told reporters that Icelanders can hunt whales for commerical purposes if they so choose, no matter what the International Whaling Commission (IWC) might say. Due to a system of rotating leadership, the IWC is currently under the control of a pro-whaling majority - Japan, Norway, and Iceland. In a largely symbolic vote on Sunday, a slim majority of 33 to 32 voted to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. Iceland currently hunts a limited amount of whales by the loophole of "scientific purposes". Guðfinnsson called the news a "positive development," adding that "Icelanders should not let people without any substantial logic to their arguments stop an indepedent people from making use of their resources in a sustainable fashion." - pfn