But instead of savaging the whaling company responsible, Hvalur, or its boss Kristjan Loftsson, campaigners Greenpeace turned on the Iceland governnment.

"The government has dismally failed to show leadership despite its own outspoken opposition to the hunt," said Sara Holden, Greenpeace's international whales campaign coordinator.

"Its reputation and that of Iceland as a whole was sliced and diced by a single company special interest lobby," she added.

Greenpeace was angry because in their view, the recently elected government, which only came to power on April 25, was not reversing the previous government's position on whaling.

Far from rejoining the whaling moratorium that Iceland broke in 2006 after 16 years, the left-wing coalition has decided to stick by the increase in the whale catches quota decided at the beginning of 2009.

That increase permitted Iceland's whalers to catch 150 Common Minke whales a year -- up from a total of nine, previously.

"Today, it is clear that the whaling policy in Iceland is really run by the whaler Kristjan Loftsson and his company Hvalur," said Holden.

But for Loftsson, whose company dates back to 1948, whales are simply a natural resource that are there to be exploited.

"There are nearly 20,000 Minke whales in the seas of Iceland," he said. "If we hunt 150 a year that is not going to make much difference."

Greenpeace, he dismissed as an industry of lies.

For Loftsson whaling is so important to Iceland that it would be better to stay outside the European Union if membership involved submitting to a hunting ban.

A fisheries and agriculture memo from March confirmed the visceral importance of the industry to the country, describing it as "a traditional part of part of Iceland's history".

Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has been trying to allay fears in this area, with the fisheries and agriculture ministry presenting a bill to parliament on the issue.

The proposed law would be based on the principle that "if whaling is pursued, it will be done in a responsible and sustainable way", said a ministry statement.

"The minister will decide which species of whales will be caught, and how many of each species.

"This will give the minister an opportunity to consider grounded arguments on conflict of interests with other sectors, such as whale watching," it added.

This last practice, when tourists are taken out on boats to see the whales, is being promoted by anti-whaling campaigners as at least as profitable as actually hunting the whales.

"Whale watching is the sector within the tourism industry which has had the fastest growth in recent years, with growing numbers of jobs and income for the Icelandic economy," said the Icelandic Travel Industry Association.

The association called on the government to disavow on the whaling quotas set at the beginning of the year.

earlier related report
EU membership will kill whale hunting in Iceland: CEO
Iceland would probably be forced to end its controversial whale hunting tradition in its bid to join the European Union, the head of a leading Icelandic whaling company said.

Kristjan Loftsson, the 66-year-old chief executive of Hvalur, fears Brussels would clamp down on whaling in Iceland due to widespread opposition by European countries.

"I would not be surprised if whale hunting has to be stopped," Loftsson told AFP.

Iceland and Norway are the only two countries in the world that authorise commercial whaling despite a 23-year-old moratorium set by the International Whaling Commission, which opens its annual meeting Monday in Portugal's Madeira island.

Iceland, which pulled out of the moratorium in 2006, launched its annual whaling season on May 26 with a larger hunting quota, sparking protests from EU powerhouses Britain, France and Germany as well as the United States.

Loftsson said Iceland should stay out of the EU, not in the interests of whale hunters but in the interest of the country's fishing industry as a whole.

Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir campaigned in the country's recent elections on a promise to let Icelandic voters have the final say on joining the EU.

But Loftsson questioned whether many support membership.

"I am very sceptical that Iceland will join the European Union in the near future," Loftsson said.

"I think the Icelandic people are sufficiently well-informed to say 'No' to Europe," he said.

In February, Iceland sparked an outcry amongst environmental groups when it increased its whaling quotas to 150 fin whales and 100 minke whales per year, up from the nine fin whales and 40 minke whales per year.

But Loftsson, who started hunting at the age of 13, is defiant on this point. He stressed that whaling "like any other industry creates jobs, income and foreign currency" and is an essential part of the Icelandic economy.

The Hvalur chief executive also rejected the fears of environmentalists, who argue the whale is an endangered species and must be protected.

"This is just a natural resource that people want to use. It's estimated there are some 20,000 fin whales around Iceland. With that in mind, 150 (hunted this year) is unlikely to make a big difference," Loftsson said.

He dismissed claims by Greenpeace that the popularity of whale meat was on the slide.

"Each whale's value depends on its size and age. I don't know anyone in business and aims to lose money," he said.

Hvalur has been hunting whales since 1948 and employees about 150 people, of which 30 people are deployed on its two fishing vessels. It is currently the only company which is allowed to hunt fin whales around the Icelandic coast.

Iceland's higher hunting quota may add fuel to the always heated debate at the annual International Whaling Commission meeting, where pro-hunting nations have been fighting for an end to the moratorium that was set in 1986.

While Iceland and Norway openly defy the ban, Japan uses a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants, with the meat then heading to restaurants and supermarkets.

Last year, Iceland decided to resume whale meat exports to Japan after an 18-year hiatus.

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