Owner of Hvallur hf., Kristján Loftsson announced plans to create iron supplements from whale meat in Icelandic outlet Morgunblaðið, following the news that Hvallur hf. will no longer sell fin whale meat to Japan. 

Loftsson plans to produce this whale iron supplement as a powder, which will be sold in capsules under the name “Reyðarjárn”. He Morgunblaðið that it is part of an effort to combat anaemia worldwide.

Marine mammals, like whales, do have extremely high myoglobin concentrations in their muscle tissue to store oxygen during long dives, giving their meat a high concentration of heme iron.

However, elemental iron is one of the most abundant, affordable and easily synthesised minerals on Earth. Current iron supplements are produced by chemical reactions, where pure element iron is dissolved and bonded with other molecules to create stable, bioavailable iron salts.

“Marketing whale as an iron supplement is yet another thinly disguised ruse to justify these brutal hunts,” said Danny from Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC).

The news comes as Japan now includes fin whales on a list of species that it allows to be commercially hunted, compounding already flagging demand. Japan last imported just over 2,500t of fin whale meat from Iceland in February 2023, which has not yet been fully sold and the Japanese government currently subsidises the industry with around 5.1 billion yen ($35–40 million USD) annually, according to figures from Japan’s Fisheries Agency and industry watchdogs like IKAN.

Past efforts to increase consumption in Japan have included putting whale into school lunches, the promotion of whale meat recipes and the creation of a website to showcase where to dine out on the meat. But lack of demand has meant that Japan is also researching new markets by inventing diverse supplements targeting hair loss, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Loftsson’s ambitions to make and market iron whale supplements are part of what he says is an attempt to address anemia that is estimated to affect one third of the world’s population, with around half of those cases caused by iron deficiency. This, he says, is an important issue for pregnant women – ensuring developing embryos have good neurological development – and in Africa. He believes countries on the west coast of Africa with whale-rich waters should take advantage of their local wildlife.

“Are these countries supposed to leave the whales there while their people suffer and children are harmed by persistent iron deficiency?” Loftsson told Reyðarjárn.

Yet, currently the sale of any supplements containing whale would be difficult in countries other than the Faroe Islands, Norway and Japan as most nations do not allow trade in whale products.

“Rather than accepting that commercial whaling has no viable future, Kristján Loftsson continues to hunt for ways to profit from the barbaric – and entirely unnecessary – slaughter of these magnificent whales,” said Sue Fisher, senior policy advisor for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Marine Wildlife Program. 

Previously, Loftsson told The Guardian that he was thinking of selling whale deaths as a carbon credit, since the animals’ faeces are rich in nutrients that stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, which then capture carbon dioxide. But Loftsson suggested the carbon dioxide emitted from whales’ blowholes could outweigh it. 

Reflecting on the news, WDC’s Groves added: “What is truly shocking is that – because there is now no market or demand for fin whale meat being caught in Icelandic waters – Kristján Loftsson’s whaling ships are, at this moment, searching the ocean and harpooning fin whales for no reason other than they might find a buyer. The total killed this year already is over 50.”

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