STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Faroe Islands said Sunday it would provisionally limit its controversial dolphin hunt to 500, following public outcry over the practice.

"An annual catch limit of 500 white-sided dolphins has now been proposed by the Ministry of Fisheries on a provisional basis for 2022 and 2023," the government of the Danish autonomous territory said.

The quota was set after the "unusually large catch" of 1,423 white-sided dolphins in September last year, it said in a statement.

"Aspects of that catch were not satisfactory, in particular the unusually large number of dolphins killed," it added.

"This made procedures difficult to manage and is unlikely to be a sustainable level of catch on a long-term annual basis."

A review of the practice was launched in February, after a petition with almost 1.3 million signatures calling for a ban on the traditional hunt was submitted to the Faroese government.

In the Faroese tradition known as "grindadrap", or "grind" for short, hunters surround dolphins or pilot whales with a wide semi-circle of fishing boats and drive them into a shallow bay where they are beached.

Fishermen on shore slaughter them with knives.

Every summer, images of the bloody hunt make headlines around the world and spark outrage among animal rights activists who consider the practice barbaric.

But the hunt still enjoys broad backing in the Faroes, where supporters point out that the animals have fed the local population for centuries.

On Sunday, the government stressed that the catches serve as an "important supplement to the livelihoods of Faroe Islanders".

"The utilization of both pilot whales and white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands is sustainable," it added.

Given current stocks, the government said an annual quota of around 825 dolphins would be "well within sustainable limits", but has recommended 500 as a provisional limit.

It added that it was waiting for an opinion from the Scientific Committee of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, expected in by 2024, after which it would review the provisional quota.

It said it would also evaluate the procedures used to drive and kill the dolphins so that it would "be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible".

Only the dolphin hunt is currently being reviewed, not the entire "grind" tradition.

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© Agence France-Presse

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