The United States government is taking a stand against whaling in Iceland.
The U.S. plans to revoke Iceland's Pelly Amendment, which allows them to continue whaling despite the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an International Fund for Animal Welfare news release reported.
Iceland continues to slaughter whales and participate in whale meat trade.
"We are so pleased that the US government has certified," Beth Allgood, US Campaign Director said in the news release. "We encourage President Obama to seize this opportunity to take strong actions that compel Iceland to end fin whaling once and for all."
The President has 60 days to respond, and could issue economic sanctions against companies that participate in whale product trade.
Kristjan Loftsson is the only Icelandic whaler that slaughters the endangered fin whale. The whaler slaughtered 134 fin whales by the end of last season.
Whaling in Iceland can cause economic harm because the region attracts tourists with its whale watching tours.
"The U.S. made the transition from a commercial whaling nation to a whale watching destination decades ago; it's time for Iceland to support whale watching, its biggest tourist industry, over whale hunting, its biggest embarrassment," Allgood said.
Between 2008 and 2012 1.6 million kilograms of fin whale meat are reported to have been transported from Iceland to Japan, News of Iceland reported.
The Icelandic government recently issued news quotas that would allow whalers to harpoon 229 minke whales and 154 endangered fin whales annually over the course of the next five years.
"Just 25 years ago, commercial whaling had nearly driven whales to extinction, but thanks to a global effort to conserve whale stocks and end over-harvesting, several whale species have begun to recover," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told News of Iceland. "Iceland's whaling activities undermine these worldwide efforts to conserve whales."
You can ask the President to stop Icelandic whaling here.
