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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing licences for (a) capturing and (b) keeping in captivity (i) whales and (ii) dolphins.

The UK Government considers cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) to be highly intelligent, social animals, with complex needs that are unlikely to be met when removed from their natural marine habitat and kept in captivity. The Government does not see merit in licensing either the capture or the private keepership of whales and dolphins.

In addition, under the EU Habitats Directive and the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to deliberately disturb, harm, capture, or kill wild cetaceans. This provides strong legal protection preventing the taking of cetaceans for captivity from EU and UK waters.