Assistant Economic Development Minister Hugh Raymond, who has responsibility for sport, said he was ‘appalled’ by pictures and footage of the hunt, in which a 1,428-strong pod of white-sided dolphins was driven into shallow waters at Skálabotnur beach earlier this month and slaughtered.
When asked by the JEP what action could be taken, Deputy Raymond said that fellow island member states could band together and reconsider the Faroes’ membership if the practice was not stopped.
‘You have to consider whether we want an island that is doing something like that,’ he said.
The killing of pilot whales and dolphins is a centuries-old Faroese tradition, which has sparked widespread condemnation across the globe. Conservationists Sea Shepherd said it believed the 12 September ‘dolphin massacre’ was the largest single hunt of dolphins or pilot whales in Faroese history. The outcry has led the Faroe Islands government to announce that it would be reviewing the hunt.
‘They need to consider that this does not look good in modern times,’ said Deputy Raymond.
The assistant minister’s comments come after a former election candidate, Roy Travert, called on the government to bar the islands from the games. He said the practice was a ‘despicable act’ from a nation that was an ‘intrinsic part’ of the games, an event in which 23 island nations compete every two years.
In a letter in today’s JEP, Mr Travert said he had written to all States Members over the issue and that, as a Jersey citizen, he was ‘appalled that our government would continue to allow them entry into the Island Games’.
‘The Faroe Islands should be barred and boycotted for carrying out this despicable cruel event.
‘Why are we trying to save the planet when modern governments, like the Faroe Islands, are still allowing the killing of its most precious natural resources, such as these dolphins?’ he said.
Mr Travert, who also led the Fight for the Fort group, which campaigned against ‘inappropriate development’ at Fort Regent, said it was the chance for Jersey’s government ‘to do the right thing’.
He encouraged the government to write to the islands’ government ‘and tell them they are not welcome until the barbaric treatment of these animals is stopped completely’.
‘This mistreatment of one of the ocean’s greatest creatures must not go unpunished,’ Mr Travert added.
