The Makah Tribe of Washington State has asked National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries officials for permission to resume their tribal hunt of gray whales.
NOAA officials report that they have now completed a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and is now seeking public comments before making a final decision.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists the whales as “least concern” and states that “the estimated population size is above the threshold for a threatened category, and the population has increased over the last three generations.”
“The population has probably reached a size where it exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment in years where food availability is below average and is likely to fluctuate around some environmentally determined average level,” says the organization.
The NOAA estimates that the population in the easter North Pacific currently numbers about 20,000 whales.
The Makah tribe has a history of hunting gray whales for both subsistence and ceremonial reasons.
In 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that in order for the tribe to resume hunting the animals they would have to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s “sustenance take” provisions.
Hunting has been discontinued until the process was complete. After the court ruling, the tribe requested that NOAA allow them to take five whales per year. An initial report from the NOAA in 2008 was withdrawn when new information about the animal’s population became available. The current DEIS evaluates the potential impacts of granting that request.
“This is the first step in a public process of considering this request that could eventually lead to authorization for the tribe to hunt gray whales. This is the public’s opportunity to look at the alternatives we’ve developed, and let us know if we have fully and completely analyzed the impacts,” said Donna Darm, associate deputy regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region in a statement.
The DEIS evaluates a variety of possible actions, from allowing the tribe to take five whales per year to turning down the request altogether. The 90 public comment period is expected to be heated as supporters of the tribe clash with environmentalists.
Timothy Greene chairman of the Makah Tribal Council in Neah Bay told the Seattle Times that whaling “is something that is strongly connected to our spiritual existence. We’re not going anywhere, and this is important for us and generations to come.“
Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said that the proposed whale hunt is illegal under international law.
“Under aboriginal clauses of the international whaling commission you cannot kill whales for aboriginal subsistence purposes, unless there is an unbroken tradition and a proven subsistence necessity, and there’s neither in this case. So I think we have a strong case. I think now the public, especially in Washington state, is very much against this,” Watson told the CBC.
The NOAA is expected to issue a final report in April, which includes a preferred plan. Individuals and organizations interested in commenting on the proposed plan should visit the NOAA website.
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