Denmark requests a quota of 50 Humpback whales for ‘subsistence whaling’

Aboriginal subsistence whaling
Denmark has requested a quota for Greenland to kill 50 humpback whales off the coast of West Greenland under the banner of "aboriginal subsistence whaling". It claims more whale meat is needed to meet the nutritional needs of the people of Greenland, a Home Rule territory of the Danish Kingdom. WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, exposes the request as unsubstantiated and dangerous.

4000 small whales and dolphins also killed every year
Greenland does not make a convincing case that its native communities need more whale meat than their current quota provides. Over the past decade, they have never taken all the available whales in their "subsistence" quota, and significant quantities of meat are wasted, stockpiled or sold commercially in supermarkets - available even to tourists. This defies the non-commercial character of the "subsistence" hunt. In addition around 4000 small whales and porpoise are killed in Greenland every year.

"The request by Denmark to expand whaling in Greenland is not about "subsistence needs" but about condoning the commercialisation of whaling in Arctic regions. Denmark is simply not telling the whole truth" says Nicolas Entrup, spokesperson of WDCS on-site in Madeira.

Greenland is able to exploit loopholes and ambiguities in the IWC regulations because there are no binding international rules in place to regulate "subsistence hunting". Until that reform is complete, Greenland will be able to continue to play politics at the IWC" Entrup continues, "WDCS does not oppose subsistence whaling by native peoples, including in Greenland, whom the IWC has identified as being reliant on whales for legitimate nutritional subsistence. But Greenland's request for 10 humpback whales a year would provide whale meat way beyond their needs".

The votes by Member States of the European Union, which will vote as a block, will be decisive in whether or not the first humpback whales in decades will be killed legally in European waters. Nicolas Entrup of WDCS reports from the conference: "Intensive lobbying by Denmark, supported by Sweden, is currently trying to generate a European consensus in favour of Greenland's proposal. WDCS urges Member States and the Czech presidency not to put at stake the EU's reputation for commitment to the conservation of the world's whales."