Icelandic commercial whaling company Hvalur hf. plans to resume whale hunting this summer, following a two-year pause in commercial operations. In 2024, the Icelandic government issued the company a five-year license allowing it to catch up to 209 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) annually. However, Hvalur hf. didn’t hunt any whales in 2024 or 2025. Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute advised that no more than 150 should be caught in 2026, a 28% reduction from previous catch recommendations. The IUCN Red List classifies fin whales as vulnerable to extinction. The species is the second-largest animal on Earth, after blue whales (B. musculus). Partly because they are so large, fin whales are “slow to mature, with low reproductive rates, which means populations recover slowly from any pressure,” Luke McMillan, head of hunting and captivity with the U.S.-based NGO Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told Mongabay by email. Following the 1982 International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling, most countries discontinued the practice. Just Iceland, Japan and Norway still allow it. However, Iceland Minister of Industries Hanna Katrín Friðriksson has reportedly said commercial whaling is not in the public interest and that legislation to end the practice will be introduced in the fall, after the 2026 whaling season. Animal welfare concerns remain a central question. A 2023 report from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority found more than 40% of whales did not die immediately after being struck by harpoons, with a median of 11.5 minutes before death. In one case, a whale…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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