By Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK (IDN) – One of the arguments for commercial whaling is that whales compete with humans for fish – they eat fish that would otherwise be available for human consumption.
According to Gísli Víkingsson from the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, whales eat around six million tonnes off Iceland, which is four to six times the amount taken by the Icelandic fishing fleet. “But of course it’s not all fish. Maybe a third is fish, though little is known for most species,” he says.