No plans to ban dolphin killings

The law regarding pilot whale hunting applies to white-sided dolphins too, and there are no plans to change that, says minister

Høgni Hoydal, the Minister of Fisheries, is not planning to ban dolphin killings.

This became clear after MP Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen enquired whether pilot whales and white-sided dolphins are covered by the same legislation. He also asked for further details on where, when and how dolphin hunts are to be carried out.

In addition, the MP wanted to know about the international response to the highly publicised dolphin hunt in Hvalvík on 11 September in which 190 white-sided dolphins were killed.

In his reply, Hoydal writes that the law on pilot whale hunting also applies to white-sided dolphins.

He adds that whether any breaches of this law were made in the Hvalvík drive is a matter for the prosecution service and not the minister.

Hoydal says that he has no plans to change this legislation, which means that dolphin hunts, just like pilot hunts, will remain a lawful activity.

Regarding the international response to the dolphin hunt in Hvalvík, the minister says there were thousands of social media posts protesting Faroese whaling in the days following the event. He is, however, keen to point out that this negative publicity is nothing new, and that the Faroes have received heavier whaling-related media onslaught in the past.

The Ministry of Fisheries has received one single email requesting that the Faroe Islands put an end to dolphin killings.

In the period 11-19 September, the Prime Minister’s Office received 282 letters of protest. Most of these came from the same website and were identical. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and whaling.fo received a few protest letters in the wake of the Hvalvík event. According to the foreign ministry, the international reactions to this event have essentially been the same as those concerning Faroese whaling in general over the past few years.

Translated by prosa.fo

See also:

Put dolphin hunts on hold, say Social Democrats

Poll: One-third support dolphin killings

White-sided dolphin hunting may not be sustainable