Whether eating whale meat is legal depends entirely on where you are. In the United States, it is illegal to buy, sell, import, or possess whale meat under federal law, with limited exceptions for Indigenous subsistence hunters. In a handful of other countries, including Japan, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, whale meat is legally sold and consumed under various national frameworks.
Why Most Countries Ban It
In 1982, the International Whaling Commission voted to pause all commercial whaling starting in the 1985/1986 season. That moratorium remains in place today and is binding on all IWC member nations. The practical effect is that in most of the world, commercially hunting whales is prohibited, which means there is no legal supply chain for whale meat in the vast majority of countries.
The Law in the United States
U.S. federal law makes whale meat effectively untouchable for ordinary consumers. The Marine Mammal Protection Act imposes a blanket moratorium on taking and importing marine mammals and their products. It is illegal for any person under U.S. jurisdiction to take a whale in American waters or on the high seas, to possess whale meat, or to purchase, sell, import, or export it. A separate provision specifically bans commercial whaling in U.S. waters.
Penalties are significant. A conviction can carry a fine of up to $10,000, up to one year in prison, or both. Courts can also order the forfeiture of any whale products involved. Bringing whale meat through U.S. customs, even as a personal souvenir from a country where it is legal, violates federal law.
The one exception is for Alaska Native subsistence hunting. The IWC grants aboriginal subsistence quotas, and for the current period, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission has been assigned 93 bowhead whale strikes, shared between Alaskan and Russian Native communities. That quota is distributed among 11 whaling villages with documented cultural and subsistence needs. The meat from these hunts is shared within the community, not sold commercially.
Countries Where Whale Meat Is Legal
Japan
Japan withdrew from the IWC in 2019 and immediately resumed commercial whaling. Because it is no longer a member, the moratorium does not legally bind it. Japanese whaling is confined to the country’s own territorial waters and its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Whale meat is sold in Japanese markets and restaurants. Before withdrawing, Japan had conducted whaling under a “scientific research” exemption for decades, though the meat from those expeditions was routinely sold commercially, drawing international criticism.
Japan’s legal position is not entirely clean-cut. As a United Nations member, it remains subject to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which requires states to cooperate through international organizations for the conservation of marine mammals. Since the IWC is the recognized body for that purpose, Japan’s decision to leave and resume whaling occupies a legal gray area under international law.
Norway
Norway never accepted the moratorium. It filed a formal objection when the ban was introduced in 1982, which under IWC rules means the moratorium is not binding on it. Norway sets its own annual catch limits for North Atlantic minke whales, hunted within its exclusive economic zone, and whale meat is sold domestically.
Iceland
Iceland left the IWC in 1992 and rejoined in 2002 with a reservation to the moratorium, allowing it to continue commercial whaling. It has hunted both minke whales and fin whales in its own waters and sets its own catch limits.
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands, a self-governing territory of Denmark, have a centuries-old tradition of communal pilot whale hunts known as the grindadráp. The practice is regulated by the Faroese Parliament under dedicated legislation. Hunters must be at least 16 years old and complete a certification course covering killing methods, equipment use, and relevant law. A minimum of 50 people must come together to form a community hunt, and specific rules govern how the animals are killed using a spinal lance in shallow water. Long-finned pilot whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, white-beaked dolphins, and common bottlenose dolphins may all be legally taken.
The meat is distributed within the community as a traditional food staple. It cannot, however, be exported to Denmark, and doing so carries fines. Interfering with a lawful hunt is itself a criminal offense, and activists attempting to stop the grindadráp have been arrested.
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Elsewhere
Beyond Alaska, the IWC grants subsistence whaling quotas to Indigenous communities in Greenland (through Denmark), Russia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These quotas are based on documented cultural and nutritional needs and are negotiated jointly by the requesting nations. The meat from these hunts is consumed locally, not traded internationally.
Health Risks of Eating Whale Meat
Even where whale meat is legal, it carries real health concerns. Whales sit near the top of the marine food chain, and their tissues accumulate high concentrations of methylmercury. Pilot whale meat, for instance, contains roughly 95% more methylmercury than cod. Research on the Faroe Islands found that adults eating an average of just 12 grams of whale meat per day (less than half an ounce) exceeded the World Health Organization’s tolerable weekly intake for methylmercury regardless of body weight.
The consequences are not abstract. Studies in the 1990s documented measurable cognitive impairment in Faroese children who were exposed to elevated methylmercury levels in the womb because their mothers ate whale meat during pregnancy. Those findings prompted public health authorities to advise pregnant women to reduce or eliminate whale consumption, and intake among that group has since dropped. For the general population, the mercury burden from regular whale consumption remains a concern that is expected to worsen as climate change increases mercury cycling through marine ecosystems.