Iceland’s government announced on June 11 that it has approved a catch quota of 128 fin whales for this year for Hvalur, the country’s only continuing whaling company.

Kbalul applied in January for new catch quotas for the next five years, up from 161 last year.

Iceland’s whaling season normally runs from mid-June to September, but in June last year the government decided to suspend whaling for two months, citing violations of animal welfare laws. As a result, Hvalur only managed to catch 24 whales during the three-week season.

Only three countries currently practice whaling – Iceland, Norway and Japan – and in Iceland the practice has come under increasing criticism, with animal rights group Humane Society International calling for an end to it, calling it “unnecessary cruelty”.

A poll conducted last June showed 51 percent were opposed to whaling, up from 42 percent four years earlier. (c)AFP