May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Iceland starts its commercial whaling season today, defying a global moratorium on the practice that the Atlantic island says no longer applies to its fishery.

A total of 40 minke whales may be hunted during the six- month season, Asda Einarsdottir, a member of Iceland's fisheries ministry, said in a telephone interview from Reykjavik today. Unlike last year, no fin whales will be hunted, she said.

``This is a part of our culture,'' Einarsdottir said. ``There are a lot of emotions in these matters, but we are not whaling from endangered stocks.''

Iceland resumed whale hunting for commercial purposes in October 2006, two decades after the International Whaling Commission outlawed the practice in order to preserve dwindling populations. The country last year ended whaling for research, which is permitted by the IWC and has been undertaken by other whaling nations, including Japan.

Commercial whaling isn't endorsed by the Social Democratic Alliance, the junior partner in the ruling coalition together with the Independence Party. Foreign Minister Ingibjoerg Solrun Gisladottir said in a statement that the hunt ``is sacrificing long-term interests for short-term gains.''

Minke whales are dark grey with white bands on their flippers that grow to about 30 feet and can weigh about 7 tons. The stock of Central North-Atlantic minke whales is almost 70,000, of which 43,600 roam Iceland's waters, according to the ministry.

Sashimi

``There are enough threats as it is, what with global warming, so we're definitely opposed to this,'' said Hanne Lyngwinter, an ocean campaigner at the Copenhagen office of Greenpeace. ``It's a wrong signal to send.''

Iceland reneged on the commercial hunting ban in 2006 after the island nation, with a population of about 300,000, said the IWC had failed to establish rules for sustainable whaling.

Iceland's fishing industry makes up about 60 percent of exports. Most of the whale meat is sold for local consumption, Einarsdottir said.

``Minke sashimi is a quite popular starter in Reykjavik restaurants,'' Einarsdottir said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tasneem Brogger in Copenhagen at tbrogger@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: May 20, 2008 08:42 EDT