The traditional Faroese catch of northern bottlenose whales has averaged 1.2 animals a year prior to 1877 and since 1974. This catch is strictly opportunistic. Small numbers of bottlenose whales have approached certain bays in the Faroes at regular intervals for centuries, a phenomenon explained in local legends which have been preserved in some of the oldest recorded Faroese folk narratives. The meat of the bottlenose is eaten, and the blubber, while inedible, is highly valued by the Faroese for its medicinal properties. Faroese legislation was amended in 1986 to protect the bottlenose, making this traditional use illegal , due to its IWC (provisional) classification - since 1977 - as Protected Stock. This legislation is now being revised in the light of the recent assessments carried out through NAMMCO.

There has been no commercial catch of bottlenose whales in the North Atlantic since 1973 when Norway ceased its catch of this species after the closyure in 1972 of the UK market for the meat, which was sold to the pet food industry. The Faroes have, however, indicated an interest in a limited offshore catch, although no request for management advice for such a catch has yet been made through NAMMCO.