Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.03.2017, Qupperneq 4

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LÓABORATORIUM
HI. I JUST READ
ON YOUR SITE
that more minke
whales will be killed
because of the demand of some
tourists. I am certain that a vast
majority of tourists are against
whale hunting. Why the govern-
ment is following the demand
of a small percentage of foolish
tourists? I thought that Iceland is a
country where respect for nature is
important, but I seem to be wrong.
In my opinion it is immoral and
disgusting and why not asking the
opinion of the Icelandic people in a
referendum?
- Kind regards,
Danny Van Den Bergh, Belgium
Hey Danny
The government does not con-
duct whale hunts; it's the work of
private companies. The last poll on
the matter shows Icelanders pretty
much split on the issue (see: www.
gpv.is/whale15), which may explain
why the government hasn't stepped
in to shut it down. I think the at-
titude is "let the market decide,"
and as long as tourists come here
demanding whale meat, there will
always be a supply.
Thanks for your answer. You are
right, it is a private company but
the government shouldn’t allow
it, because there is a worldwide
ban on whale hunting, it is
against international legislation!
I suppose it are especially Japa-
nese tourists who ask for whale
meat, as Japan doesn’t respect the
international moratorium …. But
European tourists are against for
almost 100% ………
- Kind regards, Danny
Hey Danny,
There aren't enough Japanese
tourists in Iceland to explain the de-
mand; there were only about 22,000
Japanese tourists in Iceland last
year, ranking them 16th on the list of
tourist nationalities. Anti-whaling
activists contend it's actually tour-
ists from countries where whale
meat is banned, who buy it in Ice-
land as a curiosity, that explains the
demand (see: www.gpv.is/whale11).
But there is no hard data on that in
front of me at the moment.
That is indeed strange. I didn’t
personally met people who intend
to eat whale meat in Iceland, I
would never consider it, not even
READER
LETTERS
for free! I just don’t understand
the government: respect for the
environment is very important in
Iceland, but they don’t respect a
worldwide accepted ban on whale
hunting. I think only Japan and
Norway (and Iceland?) didn’t sign
the international treaty ….
- Kind regards, Danny
Hello again Danny
Governments, you may have
noticed, often speak in platitudes
about the importance of particular
“issues,” e.g. tolerance, equality,
and environmentalism. But when
it comes to enacting actual policy
in a capitalist society, that policy
can only go as far as capitalism will
allows it to go.
So long as there are tourists look-
ing to buy whale meat, there will be
restaurants willing to sell it. So long
as those restaurants pay taxes, there
will be governments willing to toler-
ate the sale of whale meat. The trade
of whale meat will continue until it
becomes unprofitable, and will end no
sooner.
Such is life in the eco-friendly
banker-jailing elfin paradise of
Iceland.
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4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 03 — 2017
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