Tag Archives: marine mammals

The hunting of cetaceans in the Faroe Islands has brought into sharp focus what many of us already understand – the health of our oceans matters to us all.

The hunts, known as the grindadráp, see dolphins driven into shallow bays and killed in a practice that has drawn widespread concern for animal welfare.

Images of these brutally killed animals sit uneasily with our ambitions for a more sustainable, humane, and internationally engaged future. And these ambitions do not have borders.

Although some choose to defend the grind as tradition, all the evidence shows most Faroese people do not participate in the hunts, and that women overwhelmingly oppose them. This indicates that the practice may not reflect broad popular consent, and that a transparent and open conversation is needed on whether this practice should continue.

The Faroe Islands, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, lie just 200 miles north of the Scottish coast. The marine species of the North Atlantic do not respect borders, and neither should our commitment to their protection given these are cetaceans that live in the waters that we share.

For the Liberal Democrats, environmental stewardship and high standards of animal welfare are fundamental principles. We believe in evidence-led policy, international cooperation, and sustainable practices that respect life and ecology wherever they occur.

Throughout my time in Parliament, I have consistently championed environmental protection, biodiversity, and sustainable practices.

As Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Environment, I work with colleagues cross-party to promote responsible stewardship of our natural world. Protecting whales and dolphins from practices that raise serious welfare and conservation concerns is integral to this.