This month, Japan and Norway resumed their sickening commercial whaling operations, marking a sharp contrast to Iceland’s decision. Iceland’s largest fin whaling company, Hvalur hf, announced that it will not participate in the 2025 season, emphasizing a global shift away from this cruel and inhumane industry.
On April 1st, Japan launched its annual hunt, killing its first fin whale of the season on Friday. The country’s sole whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku, is expected to kill up to 269 whales this year alone, including 60 fin whales, which are a threatened species and the second-largest animals on earth. Additionally, small coastal boats will target 144 minke whales for slaughter.
Norway began its hunt on the same day, with the first minke whale killed two days later by a ship affiliated with Lofothval, a company partially owned by Icelandic whaler Kristján Loftsson. Although Norway has authorized the killing of up to 1,406 minke whales, the actual numbers are expected to be much lower due to plummeting demand and growing public opposition to whaling. A 2024 study revealed the presence of toxic contaminants in Norwegian whale meat, which are linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and developmental disorders.
In contrast, Iceland is stepping back. Hvalur hf., the only Icelandic company licensed to hunt fin whales, has announced it will not operate this summer—citing financial losses and a shrinking market in Japan. However, another Icelandic company, Tjaldtangi ehf., may still kill up to 217 minke whales—the first such hunt in Icelandic waters since 2021.
Japan, Norway, and Iceland remain the last three countries defying the International Whaling Commission’s 40-year-old ban on commercial whaling.
“The whaling industrial complex is a sinking ship,” said Sue Fisher, senior policy advisor for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Marine Wildlife Program. “Although the government of Japan is prepared, for now, to continue propping up its own whalers, it no longer appears willing to also keep Iceland’s whaling industry afloat by subsidizing Kyodo Senpaku’s purchase of Hvalur’s meat.”
“Hvalur had been hoping that its recent marketing efforts in Japan would boost consumer interest there, making it worthwhile for the company to go whaling this year,” added Fisher. “But Kyodo Senpaku simply cannot afford to buy Icelandic whale meat without financial support from Japan’s government.”
Despite government-funded marketing—including whale burgers, meat vending machines, and efforts to introduce whale products into supermarkets—consumer demand continues to collapse. In both Norway and Japan, excess whale meat is now being turned into pet food, or in some cases, discarded at sea after only the most valuable cuts are removed.
While global efforts to protect whales are gaining momentum, this change is frustratingly slow for those still targeted this year. The global shift towards conservation needs to accelerate in order to save these magnificent creatures who are at immediate risk. Urgent action is essential to ensure progress arrives in time for the whales that are still in danger.
