Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animal Welfare Strategy published on 22 December 2025, if she will extend the strategy to include the welfare of marine mammals hunted in the Faroe Islands that also inhabit UK waters.

We remain committed to meeting our international obligations and continue to have concerns about the welfare and sustainability of these hunts.

In December 2025 we published the UK Cetacean Conservation Strategy with devolved governments. This includes species hunted in the Faroe Islands and aims to improve the conservation status of cetaceans in UK waters.

UK ministers and officials consistently call for an end to cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands. As Chair of the International Whaling Commission’s Conservation Committee and Intersessional Working Group on Welfare, the UK promotes stronger protection and improved welfare for small cetaceans.