UK urged to stop £1.1bn trade with whale and dolphin-slaughtering island
Forty pilot whales were hunted, dragged ashore and killed during the first hunt of 2024 in May.
Campaigners call for Labour to suspend deal with the Faroe Islands
Campaigners have demanded that the UK halts trading with the Faroe Islands until it ends the slaughter of whales and dolphins.
Presenter Megan McCubbin and green businessman Dale Vince are among those backing the calls.
The Faroe Islands, 200 miles north of Scotland, exported over £1.1 billion of fish to Britain in 2023.
The UK exported only £33 million worth of goods to the archipelago in the same period.
Activist Ms McCubbin said: “The whale and dolphin slaughter in the Faroe Islands, known as the grind, is an outdated and unimaginably cruel practice.
“Mainly after pilot whales, the hunt locates pods and drives them into specified killing bays, which can take hours over a distance of many kilometres, for them to be killed on the beach.
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“I am horrified that this still goes on in 2024. These are intelligent, sentient animals who have their own languages, dialects, social relationships and a sense of self - just like we do.
“I am especially concerned that by buying Faroese salmon in UK supermarkets, we are helping to support this economy that is responsible for such cruelty. I urge the UK government to suspend the Free Trade Agreement with the Faroe Islands until the slaughter ends.”
Locals surround pods using speed boats and then drive them towards shore where they are slaughtered using sharp lances, similar to a spear.
Whaling in the Faroe Islands, or grindadráp, happens most often during the summer although a hunt can be called at any time.
Faroese are fiercely defensive of the hunt which is an important part of their culture and traditions.
Whale meat and blubber remain a popular dish despite concerns about the high levels of mercury.
Dominic Dyer, policy advisor at animal protection organisation charity Born Free, said: “Britain is now the largest single trading partner with the Faroe Islands and we are enriching this Island nation with a population less than 50,000 at an unprecedented rate.
“Many of the individuals who are participating in the whale and dolphin hunts on the Faroe Islands work in the wild or fish farming industry and are probably using the increased income generated from trade with UK to fund the costly and complex killing operations, which are in contravention of UK Government policy on whaling and the protection of dolphins
“The new Labour Government must be willing to threaten the suspension of this hugely valuable trade agreement to bring this barbaric cruel madness to an end.”
Activists staged a “day of protests” in London today to demand the end of the trade agreement with the Faroe Islands.
Campaigners are also demanding the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson who faces up to 15 years in prison in Japan.
The charges against him stem from the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s alleged boarding of the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 in the Southern Ocean in February 2010.
A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rurual Affairs said: “The UK is strongly opposed to the hunting of any cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises.
“We continue to call on all whaling nations at every appropriate opportunity to cease their whaling activities.”
