The Faroe Islands will temporarily limit its controversial dolphin hunt to 500 dolphins, after drawing significant criticism for last year’s slaughter of almost 1,400.

In February, a review was ordered in response to the criticism.

Long ago, animal rights activists condemned the hunt, believing the killing was harsh and pointless.

Faroe Islanders embrace the practice because dolphins have fed them for millennia.

The grind (or Grindadrap in Faroese) refers to the centuries-old practice of hunting marine mammals, particularly whales, in the Danish autonomous region of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic.

The severity of the killings last year, however, startled many people and attracted criticism from groups involved in the practice. It was the greatest number of dolphins ever killed in a single day in the Faroe Islands, according to records.

The Faroese government has received a petition with about 1,300,000 signatures demanding an end to traditional hunting.

For the next two years, the government has restricted the annual catch of white-sided dolphins to 500. Currently, only the dolphin hunt is under investigation, not the overall grind ritual.

A map showing the location of Skalabotnur in the Faroe Islands.
The quota was established following the “unusually huge” capture of 1,423 white-sided dolphins in September, according to a government statement.

“Aspects of this catch were unsatisfactory, particularly the exceptionally high number of dolphins that were killed,” the report continued.

However, the government claimed that hunting is “a vital supplement to the Faroe Islanders’ lives.”