Iceland okays 2008 whale hunt

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

REYKJAVIK (AFP) — Iceland's government approved on Monday the commercial hunting of whales this year, a move that drew quick criticism from conservationists.

"The quota for 2008 was decided today, that is 40 Minke whales," a senior official in the Icelandic fisheries ministry, Stefan Asmundsson, told AFP.

Whalers could begin hunting from Tuesday and continue through September, he added.

Iceland, which had observed an international moratorium on commercial whaling for sixteen years until a controversial October 2006 decision to resume the practice, had not previously taken a decision on whether hunting would go ahead this year.

Asmundsson said the decision was taken after it was determined there was need for whale meat on the market.

The...