Sea Shepherd Launches 2025 Faroe Islands Campaign with Renewed Local Engagement Strategy

Sea Shepherd has officially launched this year’s campaign in the Faroe Islands, marking the beginning of a five-month presence focused on marine conservation and community engagement. Sea Shepherd's campaign reflects a strategic pivot toward fostering local partnerships and amplifying Faroese voices in the movement to end the grindadráp.

The 2025 campaign—operating under the banner Living Fjords—signals a significant evolution in Sea Shepherd’s approach. Abandoning past confrontational tactics that have proven ineffective, the organization now emphasizes positive visibility, respectful dialogue, and constructive collaboration with Faroese residents. According to Valentina Crast, Sea Shepherd’s Faroe Islands Campaign Lead, “The grindadráp will not end through anger or blame; it will end through shared purpose and the involvement and leadership of Faroese individuals.”

This shift comes after years of reflection and outreach, acknowledging that while global attention has raised awareness, sustainable change must be rooted in the local community. Volunteers, many of whom are returning participants, are now engaging in practical, everyday actions—beach cleanups, open conversations in villages and harbors, and the distribution of plant-based “goodie bags” salvaged from over 400 kg of edible supermarket food waste in May alone.

“Food waste is a global issue,” Crast noted in a recent press release, “and so is the unsustainable logic behind killing whales for ‘free food’ while simultaneously discarding fresh produce imported from around the world. This contradiction deserves public scrutiny, particularly in a society that prides itself on sustainability.”

The campaign’s daily presence in Faroese communities is already yielding encouraging signs. Residents have begun to engage more openly with Sea Shepherd’s volunteers, offering words of thanks, baked goods, and, most importantly, honest conversations. These interactions are essential to the campaign’s long-term strategy: building trust and providing space for Faroese citizens to lead the call for an end to the grind.

Sea Shepherd's updated strategy closely aligns with Stop the Grind’s broader goals: prioritizing legal reform, international accountability, and cultural dialogue over adversarial messaging. As Crast put it in a January 2025 commentary, “Activism must be rooted in the Faroe Islands, led by Faroese activists, and supported by the broader ocean protection community worldwide. There is no other solution—it must be collective.”

For Stop the Grind partners, this new phase of Sea Shepherd’s campaign offers a model of stakeholder-informed activism—one that acknowledges the legal complexity of the grindadráp while reinforcing the need for systemic change, both locally and globally. Sea Shepherd will maintain its monitoring and documentation role throughout the summer and early autumn, while continuing to support Faroese community members seeking a different future for their islands and oceans.

Follow the on-the-ground updates of the campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdFaroes

To connect with Sea Shepherd’s Faroe Islands team or learn more about local engagement initiatives and opportunities, email: faroes@seashepherdglobal.org