Washington ? Iceland said in a surprise announcement Wednesday that it planned to begin hunting whales for scientific purposes, drawing criticism from conservation groups and other governments.

“We oppose it. We’re disappointed,” said Rolland Schmitten, U.S. delegate to the International Whaling Commission. “It’s not relevant science, it’s not necessary.”

In London, Britain’s fisheries minister, Ben Bradshaw, said the government regarded Iceland’s move as unnecessary. “Iceland’s claim that data are needed on the amount of fish that whales eat is wholly unjustified,” he said.

Della Green of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said there was “absolutely no scientific basis for these whales to be killed.”

Despite an international moratorium on commercial whaling, countries do not need permission to conduct scientific whaling, with the intent of learning about the health and abundance of the marine mammals.

But countries usually present their plans to the commission, and when Iceland did so this summer, commission members voted disapproval.

Nonetheless, the Icelandic government called in foreign ambassadors Wednesday morning and advised them of plans to hunt 38 minke whales this month for scientific purposes.

The announcement probably will lead to a U.S. review to determine whether Iceland’s whaling is undermining the effectiveness of an international conservation program, State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said. U.S. law provides for a range of responses, including trade penalties. Japan, which also practices scientific whaling, has been certified this way, but escaped punishment so far.

Iceland’s original proposal covered 100 minkes, 100 fin whales and 50 sei whales. The government said its new quota of 38 minkes was “clearly a minimalist approach” that showed “Iceland’s willingness to be constructive and compromise when it comes to whaling issues.”

Helgi Agustsson, Iceland’s ambassador to the United States, said the catch was necessary to learn as much as possible about the region’s whale stock. Such catches yield information about whales’ health and how many whales there are in the area, for example.

Iceland stopped commercial whaling in 1989 under the international moratorium. When it rejoined the whaling commission in October, Iceland said it would not be bound by the moratorium after 2006.