Faroe Islands Reject Whale-Kill Protests
Faroe Islanders will continue killing pilot whales despite protests by conservationists, their leader said Monday.
“Actions against pilot whale killing which environmental groups have taken recently are out of all proportion, and if there are more, they will be stopped,” said Atli Dam, head of the home-rule government on the Danish islands.
Members of a London-based conservationist group, the Environmental Investigation Agency, said islanders kicked and punched them last month when they tried to stop the ritual killing of whales by men, women and children.
“Everyone is welcome on the Faroes, but if they break Faroese law and involve themselves in whale-killing permitted by the authorities, we will intervene,” Dam said.
Conservationists say the slaughter is mainly for sport, but Faroese officials say islanders consume all they catch.
The whales have no protection under International Whaling Commission rules because they are not generally used for commercial purposes.
Dam told the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten that islanders kill about 1,700 pilot whales each year.
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