GREENLAND - THIS IS A TEST VERSION – comprehensive text will follow as the project progresses
There is a long tradition for harvesting seabird in Greenland as a necessary food supply or for their down or skins. Today seabirds are still important for subsistence and recreational hunting, but harvest levels are declining.
A total of 19 seabird species can be harvested in Greenland. The harvest is regulated by open and closed seasons and daily quotas apply for some species. In general, the birds are now protected in the spring and during the breeding season, usually from the beginning of March or May until the end of August or mid-October. For five species less restrictive rules apply to remote communities in North and East Greenland. Egg collection is allowed for little auks, northern fulmars, glaucous gull and great black-backed gull, but are limited to certain areas or periods.
The little auks of Thule
In the northernmost parts of Greenland – in the Thule area – a special form of harvesting takes place. The little auk is found in incredible numbers and for a short period of time, locals harvest the abundant food source. As the only place in Greenland birds are caught by ketches.
Historical images from Greenland
A small selection of historical images from Greenland showing the harvest of seabirds.
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A young girl (Margrethe Skifte - born Karlsen, 25. juli 1931) stands on sea ice holding flock of king eiders. In the back two kayaks with “shoot sails” (white cloth that allowed the hunter to stay out of sight) are placed near the ice edge. Location: Kangaarsuk, West Greenland. Date: June 1936 Photographer: Jette Bang Rights: Jette Bang Phot. / Arctic Institute, Copenhagen
Man with box attached to his back and robe around his boby climbs steep cliff to harvest seabird eeg. Location: "Qaqorlussuit", West Greenland. Date: July 1939 Photographer: Jette Bang Rights: Jette Bang Phot. / Arctic Institute, Copenhagen
Brünnich's guillemot (Uria lomvia) and a few kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) in front of Salleq. The steep cliffs used to be one of the largest Brünnich's guillemot colonies in Greenland with more than 100.000 pairs. Sometime in the 1970ies the species became extinct at the site – likely as a result of overharvest, by-catch in salmon nets and disturbance. Location: Uummannaq Date: “Earliest 1902” Photographer: Alfred Leopold Bertelsen Rights: Arctic Institute, Copenhagen
A young girl (Margrethe Skifte - born Karlsen, 25. juli 1931) stands on sea ice holding flock of king eiders. In the back two kayaks with “shoot sails” (white cloth that allowed the hunter to stay out of sight) are placed near the ice edge. Location: Kangaarsuk, West Greenland. Date: June 1936 Photographer: Jette Bang Rights: Jette Bang Phot. / Arctic Institute, Copenhagen