Seabird harvest in the North Atlantic

The project wants to highlight and raise awareness of the importance of sea birds and sea birds catch in the North.

Several seabird populations in the Nordic region have undergone significant declines due to changing climatic conditions and/or through a non-sustainable use. One consequence of this is that the traditional and culturally important seabird catch today is strongly threatened.

The project wants to convey the unique Nordic way of life in the peripheral zones, the conflict between population declines and exploitation of sea birds, and the important position seabird catch still holds in the Nordic region.

The project involves expertise from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands and its primary output is a book, secondarily a travelling exhibition and a website. The project will thus contribute to the branding of the Nordic and Scandinavian way of life, where the unique use of natural resources plays a crucial role.


The project has collected literature on seabirds and seabird harvest in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands and published historical overviews and photo reportages on a new website: www.atlanticseabirds.info. In addition, the project has issued declarations calling for complete protection of the endangered Atlantic puffin.

Applicant: Grønlands naturinstitut

Countries: Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands

Project start 2014, expected to be finalized in 2016.

Copyright pictures: unsplash.com