New Whale Hunts in Canada will be opposed by Sea Shepherd

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NEWS RELEASE - SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY

 

March 23, 2000

SEA SHEPHERD WILL OPPOSE ANY NEW CANADIAN WHALE HUNTS

" Domino effect " from Makah whale hunt now evident

 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will oppose any move by the Inuit of

the Canadian Eastern Arctic to expand an illegal hunt for Bowhead whales,

or the Nuu-Chah-Nulth tribes of Vancouver Island to begin hunting Gray

whales.

 

On March 18, the Nunavut community of Coral Harbor informed the Canadian

Department of Fisheries and Oceans of its desire to begin hunting

endangered Bowhead whales. On March 9, the Vancouver Ahousat band caught a

young Gray whale in a herring net in an allegedly accidental drowning,

towed it to shore, and ceremonially butchered it.

 

The same " traditional use " was the precursor to the recently revived whale

hunts of the Makah Indian tribe of Neah Bay, Washington. Last year, the

Makah, though not a recognized subsistence tribe, killed a Gray whale in

U.S. waters for the first time in over 70 years. The hunt triggered demands

by 14 native bands on neighboring Vancouver Island that whale hunting be

included in their fisheries agreements with the Canadian government.

 

" From the moment the Makah said they were going whale hunting in 1995, the

largest environmental and wildlife protection organizations in North

America ran for cover and stuck their heads in the sand, saying it was a

legitimate subsistence hunt, or it was just a few whales, " said Paul

Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. " All along, we

have maintained that neither was the case and that this was the start of

the comeback for whaling worldwide, sheathed in indigenous cultural armor

and political correctness. We would have preferred to be wrong, but the

truth is now becoming too obvious even for big green lobby groups to

ignore. "

 

Canada has been violating international law by permitting the hunting of

Bowhead whales outside the regime of the International Whaling Commission,

the global body with authority over whale hunting, since 1996. The Eastern

Arctic Bowhead is so endangered, scientists have argued that the loss of

even one whale from the population represents a threat to the species'

recovery. In 1997, Canada was certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce

for engaging " in whaling activities that undermine the effectiveness of the

International Whaling Commission. " Under U.S. law, the certification makes

Canada subject to trade sanctions, which the Clinton/Gore administration

has thus far failed to impose.

 

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