Faroe Islands limits killing of dolphins to 500 a year after anger over annual hunt
- Government of the Danish territory says a yearly catch limit of 500 white-sided dolphins has been provisionally proposed by Ministry of Fisheries
- A review was launched after a petition with around 1.3 million signatures urging a ban of the traditional hunt was submitted to authorities
The Faroe Islands said Sunday it would provisionally limit its controversial dolphin hunt to 500, following a public outcry over the practice.
“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,” said the government of the Danish autonomous territory, in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Scotland.
The quota was set after the “unusually large catch” of 1,423 white-sided dolphins in September last year, it said in a statement.
“Aspects of that catch were not satisfactory, in particular the unusually large number of dolphins killed,” it added.
“This made procedures difficult to manage and is unlikely to be a sustainable level of catch on a long-term annual basis.”
A review of the practice was launched in February, after a petition with almost 1.3 million signatures calling for a ban on the traditional hunt was submitted to the Faroese government.