Whaling in the Faroe Islands

Local and traditional forms of agriculture and hunting, including coastal drive hunts of pilot whales, have enabled the Faroe Islands to maintain a relatively high degree of self-sufficiency in local food production. In the Faroe Islands it is considered both economic and environmental good sense to make the most of natural resources which are locally available.

Pilot whales are taken for food in the Faroe Islands. Both the meat and blubber of pilot whales have long been and continue to be a part of the national diet. Sustainable catches of this abundant species are shared largely without the exchange of money among the participants in a hunt and residents of the local district where they are landed.

Full details on whales and whaling in the Faroe Islands can be found on the website: www.whaling.fo

For more information: INFORMATION MEMORANDUM - Community-based whaling in the Faroe Islands