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More than 30 Conservation organizations from around the world have joined together to urge Greenland to end the hunting of narwhals.
Animal Welfare Institute sent a letter to Greenland’s Prime Minister, Múte B. Egede, asking that he reconsider the narwhal hunting quota of 50 whales for 2022 – a number that can push the species to extinction. The hunting quota was issued after scientific experts (including Greenland’s own government advisors) advised against it.
In the letter, AWI wrote:
“We would like to congratulate the Naalakkersuisut for adopting several important Conservation measures since the Inuit Ataqatigiit party came to power last year…In contrast to these positive steps, we are deeply concerned that the Naalakkersuisut recently issued hunting quotas for 50 narwhals from three populations in Southeast Greenland that are facing imminent extinction due to hunting pressure.”
They added: “This decision contradicts the recent advice of both Pinngortitaleriffik and the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission’s (NAMMCO) Scientific Committee1,2 to reduce the quotas to zero.”
According to the letter, the NAMMCO Scientific Committee on East Greenland narwhals believes the quota needs to be canceled immediately “to avoid extinction of these stocks in the near future.”
They estimate that with the current hunting quotas there’s a 30% chance the populations of narwhals will be extinct by 2025, and a 78% chance they’ll be extinct by 2028. However, if the quota is canceled immediately, the risk of extinction for those narwhal populations drops to 0%.
Narwhals have long been used as a staple for survival by Inuit groups in rural Greenland, but the advancement of technology and transportation has made it no longer necessary. Continuing to do so will decimate their populations, as we’ve seen happen to whales around the world.
Sign this petition to demand an end to the narwhal hunt.
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