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HIGH NORTH ALLIANCE
N-8390 Reine i Lofoten, Norway.
Tel.: (+47) 76 09 24 14. E-mail:hna@hna.no |
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Whale watching – Recipe for economic disaster
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| High North News 16.07.2004 |
Whale watching companies are running with economic losses, increased liabilities, and only new capital ensures a positive equity.
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These are the conclusions of a detailed review of the annual accounts of the leading Icelandic whale watching companies.
In the period 1999-2002, these companies lost money every year, with a total accumulated loss of more than one million US dollars (1,087,321 USD based on 1 USD = 80.58 Icelandic kronur).
In the same period, total liabilities increased from 1.6 to 3.8 million USD. The influx of new capital has turned a negative equity of 116,930 USD in 2000 to a positive equity of 426,294 USD in 2002 for these companies.
These figures are assembled from the Icelandic Enterprise Register by Mr Kristjan Loftsson, head of an Icelandic whaling company.
“These figures show that whale watching is not as profitable as claimed by anti-whaling groups. Without the financial and in kind support from anti-whaling groups, several whale watching companies would have been bankrupt,” says Mr Kristjan Loftsson to the High North News.
Anti-whaling groups argue that Iceland would earn much more money from whale watching than whaling, and that they should therefore choose accordingly.
Mr Loftsson points out that whale watching and whaling can co-exist, such as they do in Norway: “I welcome whale watching as an economic activity, but that is no reason to give up sustainable whaling.”
After a 14-year hiatus, Iceland resumed whaling in 2003 with a take of 36 minke whales and 25 minke whales this year as part of a scientific program. Iceland has decided to resume ordinary commercial whaling in 2006.
For further information:
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Financial facts from annual accounts of the leading Icelandic whale watching companies. Compiled from the Icelandic Enterprise Register by Kristjan Loftsson.
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