| Friday, 03 November 2006 10:23 |
Dear Tami,
I have some important news to report: more than 55,000 letters protesting Iceland's commercial whale hunt have been delivered from IFAW supporters to Iceland's Prime Minister and Icelandic embassies around the world.
The good news is that your support is helping to generate a major international outcry. Twenty-five countries and the EU Commission have issued a joint statement calling upon Iceland to halt its whaling and stop killing endangered fin whales.
The bad news is that some people are slanting the story to imply that there was more of a public outrage when Iceland resumed its scientific whaling program in 2003. In such a small country, winning media and public opinion is crucial to victory.
Please show the Icelandic government that the world will not tolerate whaling. If you haven't already done so, please help us reach our goal of 100,000 letters today.
There have also been stories that whale watching in Iceland is not a success. Yet more than 89,000 people went whale watching in Iceland in 2006 and this sustainable industry is now worth US$24.2 million.
If you've already spoken out against Iceland's whaling program, you may have received a response letter from the Icelandic Ambassador claiming that: Iceland has no intention of catching endangered whales and that Iceland's resumption of sustainable whaling is legal under international law.
Seven fin whales and one minke whale have already been killed since the hunt began. Fin whales have been endangered under IUCN (The World Conservation Union) guidelines since 1996, which states that three-quarters of a million fin whales were commercially hunted during the period between 1904 and 1979 alone, and the current global population is unknown.
Additionally, the U.N. Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) bans the international trade of all great whale species. And Iceland was an IWC member when the ban on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986, which it agreed to at the time.
Tourists and consumers don't want to see more blood in the water
The Fisheries Minister and authorities in Iceland who have issued these permits to cruelly kill whales are out touch with both the international community and their own citizens, only 1.1% of whom eat whale meat once a week or more.
Any day now Japan's “scientific” whale fleet will leave port to kill even more whales, so it's critical we keep up the pressure to stop whaling while the issue remains in the international spotlight. Please help me build on the enormous momentum we've already generated by taking our campaign to the next level: send your letter protesting the whale hunt to Iceland today.
Keep up the incredible work,
Fred O'Regan
President and CEO
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Galactic Friends Updates 
