Whaling has been an issue of discussion on many international agendas. Currently, Iceland, Japan, and Norway are the only three countries in the world that commercially catch whales. On Thursday, the U.S. government warned Iceland that their whaling practices threatened the sustainability of the mammal, in particular endangered fin whales. Iceland has increased their whale harvest to two to three times the level recommended by the International Whaling Commission. The U.S. plans to enforce social and economic regulations in order to control this global issue. Since whaling is not considered illegal, the goal is to at least impose sustainable fishing practices. Icelandic authorities plan to protest against the US criticism, saying there are sufficient whales in its waters to continue increasing the quota.
-Rebecca Jania
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101125/sc_afp/icelanduswhaling
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I think that this whaling issue must be something iceland does not care about since their economy is struggling. It has always been americas search for a better frame of actions that, in many cases, causes other countries some amount of strife - but it always for the better of the world. I feel as though iceland will have to give in, as there probably isnt a higher amount of whales to be farmed, as there is not an infinite supply of whales. Hunting at a higher rate will cause the population of whales to decrease faster then the whales can reproduce. This will inevitably cause a chain of effects in the ocean.
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