Protest planned for Maine International Trade Day

Why protest at a Maine International Trade Day event?

The Animal Welfare Institute has organized a protest in Portland on Friday to end commercial whaling.

It’s target is not the state of Maine, but Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the president of Iceland, who is giving Maine International Trade Day’s keynote address during a noon luncheon at the Marriott at Sable Oaks in South Portland.

The protest will not be held in South Portland. Instead, it will be held later in the day at the Portland International Marine Terminal, where Eimskip, an Icelandic shipping company, has located its North American headquarters. Grimsson is in Maine at the invitation of Eimskip, which is a major sponsor of Maine International Trade Day.

Iceland has a commercial whaling industry despite a current global moratorium on the practice.

Whit Richardson

About Whit Richardson

Whit Richardson is Business Editor at the Bangor Daily News. He blogs about Maine business, entrepreneurs and the economy.