whale-for-sale

WHALE FOR SALE THE GLOBAL TRADE IN DEAD WHALESto represent those interests, Denmark has for years been out of line with the principles, objectivesand provisions of EU legislation as regards cetacean conservation. For almost a decade, Denmark hasfailed to ensure that Greenland complies with the requirements of the IWC with respect to ASW. Inaddition, Denmark has regularly tabled requests for increased catch limits and requests to extend thehunt to include additional whale species. Moreover, for over 30 years, Denmark has failed to ensurethat the Faroe Islands implement current CITES regulations and is instead turning a blind eye toFaroese imports of whale products from Iceland and Norway. 1Imports from Greenland: Under a ‘special exemption’, Denmark allows for native Greenlanders toimport up to 10kg (recently increased from the previous personal allowance of 5kg) of whale meat. 2Imports from the Faroe Islands: For the Faroe Islands, no such ‘special exemption’ exists; however,there is a ‘mutual understanding’ between Denmark/Faroe Islands and the EU, under which the EUaccepts imports from the Faroes to Denmark of up to 10 kg of pilot whale meat per Faroe Islander,provided that the meat is only for personal use and relevant permits are issued for each shipment. 3These imports are supposed to be strictly managed: the meat is intended only for personal, noncommercialuse by native Greenlanders and Faroese staying in Denmark. Despite this, whale meatmay be obtained without much effort by other people, including tourists, for example, in Copenhagen.© WDCIn November 2012, WDC investigators posing as tourists found minke whale steaks andblubber openly available to buy in the tourist district of the Danish capital, Copenhagen.They were able to make two independent purchases of both whale steaks and blubberfrom the Tranhuset (Whale Oil House) store, which is owned by Greenlandic import/exportcompany, DayCatch. When notified that the individuals were neither Greenlanders noreven resident in Denmark, the sales staff still offered to sell them the whale products,in contravention of both EU and Danish law. The sales also breached both CITES and IWCregulations relating to use of ASW products. 2{ 9 }