Operation ICESTORM
to head North from UK in early June on former Scottish
Fishery Protection Vessel toward high seas confrontation
with last fin whaling company in Europe
MEDIA
ALBERT DOCK, HULL, England, April
16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Captain Paul Watson Foundation is
launching Operation Ice Storm from Albert
Dock in Yorkshire to
directly oppose Iceland's last
whaling company, Hvalur hf. Paul
Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace and founder of Sea
Shepherd, has a history of intervening in Icelandic whaling
operations - In 1986, members of his group successfully reduced the
whaling fleet of Hvalur hf by half.
"The time is up for the world's most notorious hunter of whales,
Kristján Loftsson," stated Captain Paul
Watson, who will lead this summer's anti-whaling campaign on
his flagship the John Paul DeJoria, a
72-meter former Scottish Fisheries Protection Vessel.
Kristjan Loftsson operates Hvalur
hf at a loss. The whaler's business empire includes large
shareholdings in banks and IT companies and the magnate uses his
wealth to hunt up to 209 fin whales each season. Fin whales are
protected under international conservation law and listed as
vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Despite widespread opposition from the Icelandic public (a
recent poll suggests over 51% of Icelanders oppose whaling) and
Iceland's Fisheries Minister
temporarily revoking Hvalur hf's whaling license last summer,
Iceland's whaling boss continues
to leverage his political influence in pursuit of resuming whaling
operations. Loftsson plans to deploy two ships, armed with
explosive harpoons - Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9 - in June.
"Our volunteer crew members are making necessary preparations to
depart UK in June. From our standpoint, Loftsson is planning to
hunt whales this summer and we will be ready," stated Captain Locky
MacLean, who sailed the John Paul
DeJoria to the coast of Iceland last summer to intercept Hvalur's
vessels when the licenses were suspended.
In 2023, the US-based Captain Paul Watson Foundation and its UK
arm, CPWF UK, worked in conjunction on land and at sea on
"Operation Paiakan" during which a temporary pause on whaling
permits was issued by Iceland's
Fisheries Minister, Svandis Svavarsdottir, as the John
Paul DeJoria lay-to off the West coast
of Iceland, ready
for a confrontation to stop Hvalur hf's vessels from hunting fin whales.
This summer, CPWF's flagship will set sail in mid-June from
Hull, UK to block Loftsson's
harpoon ships if permits are issued.
CPWF UK's Rob Read, who has been
running a ground operation in Iceland each summer for several years, and
documenting the whale processing factory in Hvalfjörður since 2018,
states "Whaling is the calculated,
intentional, cruel killing
of one of the planet's
most intelligent marine
mammals, whales are a key species proven to be
critical not only to saving the oceans but ultimately all life on
Earth."
Last May, Iceland's Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) alleged
Hvalur hf was in violation of Iceland's
animal welfare laws. They cited instances of multiple fin whales
failing to die instantaneously during the
hunt, and a median time-to-death of 11.5 minutes.
Iceland, alongside Japan and Norway, persists
as one of the final nations to engage in commercial whaling,
defying the global moratorium imposed by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) in 1986.
MEDIA
ABOUT CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON FOUNDATION: The
Captain Paul Foundation, founded in
2022 by esteemed environmental and conservation activist
Paul Watson, co-founder of
Greenpeace and founder of Sea Shepherd, alongside tech entrepreneur
Omar Todd, is a US-based non-profit
dedicated to marine conservation. Committed to halting habitat
destruction and wildlife slaughter in the world's oceans, the
foundation aims to safeguard marine ecosystems and species and uses
innovative direct-action tactics to expose and confront illegal
activities at sea. Visit www.paulwatsonfoundation.org for more
information.
ABOUT OPERATION ICE STORM: Operation Ice Storm has a
singular focus: to save the lives of endangered fin whales from
Iceland's last whaling company
Hvalur hf. Despite the global ban on commercial whaling mandated by
the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986, Iceland persists in granting permits for this
activity. This joint campaign, launched by the Captain Paul Watson
Foundation and its UK branch, will employ aggressive non-violent
tactics and direct intervention to enforce international
conservation laws.
For interviews and media inquiries, please contact
Mia Music
at press@paulwatsonfoundation.org or Paul
Watson at captain@paulwatson.com.
Logo -
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2388439/4651728/logo_ICE_STORM__HQ_Logo.jpg
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/captain-paul-watson-foundation-to-stop-killing-of-endangered-fin-whales-in-iceland-302118294.html