Iceland plans permanent Whaling ban, leaving only Norway and Japan

A major development in global conservation efforts reveals that Iceland's government announced plans to submit a bill in February 2027 for a permanent ban on commercial whaling.

If passed, the move will effectively phase out the practice in Iceland and leave Norway and Japan as the only two nations in the world still engaging in commercial whaling.

Backed by a parliamentary majority and mounting public and political support, animal welfare and conservation groups are optimistic that the bill will successfully pass.

Despite a multi-year history of protests by conservationists and international activists, Iceland's sole remaining whaling company has been operating under a temporary five-year license issued in 2024.

During the current hunting season, dozens of vulnerable fin whales have been caught against a quota allowing up to 150.

While an international commercial whaling moratorium took effect in 1986 under the International Whaling Commission, Iceland resumed the practice in 2006 (following Norway in 1993), and Japan resumed it after withdrawing from the IWC in 2019.

With Iceland shifting toward a permanent ban, international pressure is expected to narrow intensely onto Oslo and Tokyo over their continued hunts.

In this year's hunting season, which runs from June to around the ⁠end of September, 80 fin whales were caught as of September 9, according to Humane World for Animals, an animal welfare group that tracks the catches. The quota allows 150 fin whales to be killed this year.

"There is considerable political and public support for this bill to ban commercial whaling, and compelling ethical, veterinary, legal and conservation reasons to hope it succeeds," said Wendy Higgins, a Humane World for Animals spokeswoman.

Fin whales, the primary target of Iceland's ⁠whaling industry, are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as vulnerable.

Iceland's government will submit a bill in February to ban whaling, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries in the world to continue commercial whaling.

Whaling in Iceland has sparked years of protests from animal welfare campaigners and Hollywood celebrities.

The bill will include "a permanent ban on whaling," the government, which has a majority in parliament expressed on September 10.