2 The capture of cetaceans in the Azores

In the Azores, beside national and international laws (Bern and Washington Conventions, CITES, etc) exists a regional legislation (Directiva Habitats, Decreto-Lei 226/97 de 27 de Agosto) that ensures the protection of all cetaceans occurring in the Islands. However, a significant controversy has been implemented during the 1990’s particularly by national and international media, regarding occasional hunting of dolphins by Azorean tuna- and long-line fishermen. In both cases, it was pointed out that dolphin meat was used for human consumption and to produce bait for small pelagic fishes (main component of the pole and line fishery) and for the tuna fishery. Therefore, dolphin capture was not a bycatch problem (pole and line fishery is extremely selective) and was responsible for a reduced number of deaths, comparing with Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna fishery.

However major concerns arise from the fact that:

. dolphins were part of the gastronomic tradition of several populations on the Azores

. fiscalization by local authorities was not sufficient to clarify suspicions of illegal hunting

. artisanal whale hunting was perpetrated for more than a century on the islands, supporting the idea that killing cetaceans was an ordinary action among fishermen.

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