Get whales off the menu
What's the problem?
In Iceland, Norway and Greenland, the whaling industry is propped up by tourists from the UK, the US and the rest of Europe who seem to leave their senses at the airport and eat whale meat when holidaying in these countries.
Please don't eat whale meat on holiday in the mistaken belief that you are sampling traditional food or having a cultural experience. You are not doing either. All you are doing is encouraging further whaling.
Together we need to:
- Educate and inform holiday makers so that they choose not to eat whale meat.
- Encourage tourists to avoid restaurants that serve whale meat.
- Persuade restaurants and hotels to take whale meat off their menus.
- Support the whale watch industry as a viable economic alternative to killing whales.
What you need to know
Find out how tourists are supporting whaling and what you can do to help.
Minke whales are harpooned off Iceland largely to cater for tourist demand. Eating whale meat is neither traditional nor popular in Iceland. Minke whaling is a relatively recent industry and only 1.5 % of the Icelandic population regularly consumes whale meat.
More than two thirds of the whales killed by Norwegian whalers are female and almost half of them are pregnant. Whale meat is not even a popular dish in Norway, despite huge government subsidies. It's eaten by the older generation and tourists.
Greenland is allowed to kill a certain number of whales for Inuit people deemed to have a genuine need for meat and blubber. But Greenland wants to expand its sales and targets holidaymakers through restaurants, buffets and barbecues offering 'A Taste of Greenland'.
Get whales off the menu: we've achieved a lot together
Fewer tourists eating whales in Iceland. In 2009, 40% of visitors admitting eating whale meat. In 2016 it was just 12%.
Radisson hotel group removed whale meat from Iceland hotel menu after complaint from WDC.
A WDC undercover investigation exposed Greenland's commercial sales resulting in a ban on their whaling for X years.