Who is presently hunting whales?
• Japan, which is a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), holds a permit for scientific hunting and takes several hundred minke whales each year. • The United States, Denmark, Russia and the West Indian islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines all have authorizations from the IWC to carry out subsistence hunting. • Norway formulated an objection to the IWC moratorium and hunts several hundred minke whales each year in its waters. • Canada, which pulled out of the IWC in 1982, regulates the subsistence hunting of belugas, narwhals and bowhead whales by indigenous peoples. • Iceland, which also pulled out of the IWC, voted a 1999 resolution for the resumption of whaling in its territorial waters after a 10 year moratorium.
