The North Atlantic Fisheries, 1100-1976 - University of Hull

Sometimes, the pods of long-finned pilot whales are mixed with other
species of smaller delphinid whales and sometimes these species also
occur as single-species schools. The species concerned are Bottlenose
Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), White-Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus
acutus), irregularly also White-Beaked Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus
albirostris), and occasionally Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) too. These
schools are also taken in a drive fishery for local consumption, though
they are not as important for the household economy as the pilot and
bottlenose whales. These species were not included in the pilot whaling
regulations before the Executive Order no. 19 of March 1 1996, and
therefore no tax has been paid. Therefore, only 6,464 whales of these
species have been recorded during the period 1709-1995. It is estimated
that more have been taken but not been reported in the sources even
though whaling law ordered the sýslumenn to report also these species
(Table III).
Table III. Total number of small Delphinid and Baleen whales caught in
the Faroe Islands, 1584-1995.
Period Baleen whales Oil (tons) Small
Delphinids
1709-1995 - - 6,464
1894-1984 12,750 55,752 -
Source: Whaling statistics compiled by the Museum of Natural History,
Tórshavn.
Faroese Offshore Baleen and Sperm Whaling, 1894-1984
Offshore whaling was developed by the Basques on the North Atlantic
Right Whale (Balaena mysticetus) in the Bay of Biscay during the
middle of the eleventh century. After depletion of the right whales in the
Bay of Biscay, the Basques moved to the Northwest Atlantic and built
land bases in the summer time in Baffin Island, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland. 112
112 P. U. Jepsen, 1994.
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