The controversial dolphin hunt of the Faroe Islands has been a topic of criticism for quite some time now. The island has decided to limit the controversial hunt to just 500 this year. The announcement was made after 1423 dolphins were caught last year, the government of the territory said in a statement according to Al Jazeera.
“An annual catch limit of 500 white-sided dolphins has now been proposed by the Ministry of Fisheries on a provisional basis for 2022 and 2023,” the territory’s fisheries ministry said.
“Aspects of that catch [2021] were not satisfactory, in particular the unusually large number of dolphins killed. This made procedures difficult to manage and is unlikely to be a sustainable level of catch on a long-term annual basis,” it added.
What is the Faroe tradition?
According to the Faroese tradition known as “grindadrap”, the dolphins are surrounded by fishing boats and are slaughtered with the help of knives after taking them to the land or a shallow bay.
It is a tradition which is still celebrated in the Faroe Islands and although people have been criticizing it for a long time, locals point it to be an important part of their yearly ritual.
“The Government of the Faroe Islands continues to base its policies and management measures on the right and responsibility of the Faroese people to utilize the resources of the sea sustainably. This also includes marine mammals, such as pilot whales and dolphins,” the ministry said in its statement. (naturalkitchenschool.com)
