Faroe Islands

FAROE ISLAND MISSION - June-July 2011

After Pete Bethune spent time meeting and talking with the Faroese earlier in 2011, he came back with a clear view that the only way to encourage the people who continue the annual grindagraps, where around 1000 long finned pilot whales are killed after being herded into small bays, was to focus on the proven health risks associated with consuming the meat and blubber from the catch.

NEW EARTHRACE CHAPTER ON FAROE ISLANDS
Join us and Chapter Director, Turid Christopherson, on face book http://www.facebook.com/pages/Earthrace-Conservation-Faroe-Islands

OUR TEAM
Picking up where Pete left off, Earthrace had small team of volunteers on the Faroe Islands in the summer of 2011:

Pamela Newlove, Canada: witnessed unusual health problems among local people when she lived and worked in Baffin Islands for six years among the Inuit who rely on traditional diet including Beluga whales and Narwhal; works in the travel industry.

Donald U Newe, France: Animal behaviorist; authorised Equine Bitless-Bridle Instructor and Marine Mammal Medic. http://www.equinebehaviour.com/en/accueil_en.html

Sandi Sullivan, Boston, US: worked in the medical profession for over 20 years as a Pediatric/Obstetric Medical Assistant. Certified Birthing Assistant, active for 4 years, serving women, and families during prenatal and pregnancy, delivery and post partum stages of life. Sandi currently works in the Organic food industry.

Anna Wikland, Sweden: Mum with twin 15 year old sons; works at a emergency facility for drug and alcohol addicts. Anna has tried raising awareness in Sweden about the Faroes with friends but says the response really sucked especially from parents with children which she found worrying Frustrated, Anna decided to volunteer for the Earthrace campaign and see what could be done on the Islands themselves.

Wilma vd Elzen, Netherlands: specialised in working with young people, yoga teacher specialising in mind focusing techniques.

Maare Liiv, Estonia: anthropology student, whose heart lies in marine biology and conservation; volunteer of a local cat shelter and member of society for the protection of animals.

HERITAGE?
Supporters of the ‘grinds’ maintain the hunt is carried out to provide a free source of food for local communities; that they represent an important part of Faroese heritage and culture having been in existence for over 1,200 years; and that modern killing methods are made as humane as possible.

With our team on the ground, we hope to find out for ourselves a bit more about the real levels of support – or otherwise – for the grinds both in cities and in more remote areas where the actual grinds take place, and how much awareness there is of the health risks attached to consumption of dolphin meat amongst the Faroese.

If the Faroese stop eating pilot whale altogether, we can see no logical reason – aside from heritage alone – for them to continue. And if it is heritage alone, then perhaps – like many traditions around the globe that have ended because they are now considered unacceptable across the modern world – it is time to consign the grinds to history books.

The deadly food chain
All around the world, our oceans are becoming more and more polluted – and because of the way our marine eco systems work, fish and marine mammals are becoming more and more toxic too.

For years, we’ve been dumping chemicals into our waters. Sadly, even once the scientists realised how harmful this was and countries around the world started putting measures in place to stop this flow of dangerous waste, it was too late. They found that many of these pollutants will never go away.

This is why one of the most dangerous groups of the waste chemicals we now find in our waterways and oceans – things like Aldrin, Chlordane, Dielerin, Endrin, HCH, Heptachlor, DDT and PCBs - are collectively called ‘Persistent Organic Pollutants’ or POPs. These find their way up the food chain, multiplying in ever increasing amounts until they are most dense within the bodies of the largest marine mammals and fish – the apex predators.

HEALTH?
The health risks associated with consuming dolphin and other apex predator meat and blubber have been well documented across the world – it is not just an issue for the Faroese but for anyone who consumes it.

Large marine animals are on top of the food chain and their consumption of pollution-contaminated fish makes their bodies a collector of both man-made and naturally occurring toxic substances.

Dr Pal Weihe, Chief Physician from the Faroese Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, has carried out extensive research with a team from Syddansk University Denmark.

Their results show that:

• Mercury from pilot whale meat adversely affects the fetal development of the nervous system; The mercury effect is still detectable during adolescence
• The mercury from the maternal diet affects the blood pressure of the children
• The contaminants of the blubber adversely affect the immune system so that the children react more poorly to immunizations
• Contaminants in pilot whales appear to increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in those who often eat pilot whale
• The risk of hypertension and arteriosclerosis of the carotid arteries is increased in adults who have an increased exposure to mercury
• Septuagenarians with type 2 diabetes or impaired fasting glycemia tended to have higher past intake of traditional foods (such as pilot whale) during childhood and adolescence, and higher concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s).
Despite his research team’s finding leading Dr Weihe to recommend an immediate ban on the consumption of pilot whale produce, in June 2011, the Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority released the following recommendations:
• Adults should eat at most one meal of pilot whale meat and blubber per month. (One meal is calculated as an amount of 250 grams of meat and 50 grams of blubber (raw, unprocessed). Average human body weight 70kg.)
• Special recommendations for women and girls:
- Girls and women should refrain entirely from eating blubber as long as they are still planning to have children
- Women who are planning pregnancy within the next three months, who are pregnant or who are breastfeeding should refrain from eating whale meat
• The kidneys and liver of pilot whales should not be eaten.

Surely this cannot be right any more than a Government ‘recommending’ that it is okay to smoke cigarettes as long you don’t smoke too much? The Faroese Government are well aware of the dangers but appear to be ignoring their own health professionals’ advice.

Our team has requested meetings with various Government Ministers including the Minister of the Interior and Health, and the Minister of Education, Research and Culture (who turned us down saying 'The culture around pilot whaling is not a matter for our Ministry'.

We will continue in our bid to find out how this dichotomy has been allowed to remain in place, or is this a case of favoring heritage over the health of their own people?

USEFUL LINKS
Earthrace Faroes Updates:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=240178319325885
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=240468735963510
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=243033125707071
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150296723725867
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150295621380867
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150219787380867
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150157603270867

The Faroe Islands: An island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Great Britain and Iceland. http://www.visitfaroeislands.com/Default.aspx?ID=9884

Faroes whaling website: www.whaling.fo