REYKJAVIK, ICELAND — Iceland's government has announced it will be allowing whaling companies to kill more than 2,000 whales within the next five years, reports the Associated Press.<br /><br />According to the Animal Welfare Institute Iceland has had a bumpy relationship with the International Whaling Commission after it imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling back in 1986.<br /><br />Iceland withdrew from the IWC but came back in 2002 and continued to hunt whales under a special permit that allowed them to kill protected species under the guise that it was being done for scientific purposes.<br /><br />Now, the Icelandic government is allowing whale hunters to kill over 2,000 whales per year over the next five years.<br /><br />The Associated Press reports that the Icelandic government has announced that whaling will be permitted for at least another five years.<br /><br />Iceland's Fisheries and Agriculture Minister Kristjan Thor Juliusson announced that whalers would be allowed to harpoon 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales every year until 2023.<br /><br />The World Wildlife Fund lists fin whales as an endangered species.<br /><br />Iceland has four harpoon-equipped vessels. According to the Directorate of Fisheries, in 2018, they hunted 5 minke whales and 145 fin whales.<br /><br />According to the University of Iceland, whaling is profitable for the country, bringing in roughly $11.8 million per year between 2009 and 2017.<br /><br />However, the AP reports that politicians are increasingly opposing whaling practices as they believe it damages the country's image and affects tourism which is a growing industry in the country. <br /><br />Last December, Japan announced it would be withdrawing from the IWC in order to resume commercial whaling for the first time in 30 years.
