Iceland kills endangered whale

ICELAND has broken a global moratorium on commercial whaling, killing an endangered fin whale for the first time since the 1980s.

Iceland’s RUV television showed footage of a large fin whale being towed by a whaling boat. It said the whale was harpooned about 200 miles west of Iceland.

Iceland last week said it would resume commercial whaling, ignoring a worldwide moratorium that came into effect in 1986. Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson said his ministry would issue licences to kill nine fin whales and 30 minke whales in the year ending August 31, 2007.