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Makah Whaling: Persistence, Not Subsistence
Even while defending challenges in US Court regarding violations of the US National Environmental Policy Act, the US is again attempting to circumvent IWC requirements for aboriginal subsistence quotas with regard to Makah Whaling. As in 1997, the US is going to great lengths to ensure that the IWC will not reach a definitive ruling on whether the Makah Tribe qualifies for the aboriginal subsistence exemption to the whaling moratorium. Instead, for the precise purpose of avoiding such a ruling, the US has again submitted a joint quota proposal with Russian Chukotka natives, whose subsistence needs have already been recognized by the Commission.
In 2001, the IWC Secretariat stated: 'While the IWC did not explicitly sanction the3 Makah hunt, neither did it explicity refuse to accept the Makah hunt as an aboriginal subsistence whaling operation. The IWC received a report of the 1999 kill by the Makah. There were no claims that an infraction has taken place. There is such a de facto acceptance of this hunt as falling within the IWC requirements for aboriginal subsistence whaling, although I might add that there is a degree of hesitation by some of the IWC members as reflected in the text attached. The onus of designating the Makah hunt was ultimately left to the United States.'
Unlike the Alaskan and Russian natives, after a 71 year hiatus from whaling, the Makah Tribe clearly has met neither the 'uninterrupted tradition' nor the 'nutritional need' requirements for aboriginal subsistence whaling. What is left is just a 'cultural' need, similar to that expressed by Japan's coastal towns, whose requests for quotas have been flatly refused by the Commission. The United States may think that one out of three isn't bad, but cultural need alone does not qualify any group for aboriginal subsistence whaling as defined by the Commission.
The onus of designating the Makah hunt as an aboriginal hunt resides solely with the IWC, not the United States. The question is this: Will the IWC review and act on the Makah's need statement or will it allow the Makah to conduct 'cultural' whaling under the aboriginal subsistence exemption to the moratorium, thereby creating a precedent for 'cultural subsistence'?
The IWC must separate out the question of Makah hunting from the Russian hunt and turn down the US request for the Makah quota as a bad idea that never should have gotten off the ground.
Tami Drake Ocean Defense International
Hoping for peace in our oceans.
Sandra Abels U.S. Citizens Against Whaling 'Saving Our Oceans One Whale At A Time'
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