After the decision, the questions and the fears

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===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list =====

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE

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" ROGUE " HUNT IN THE OFFING?

 

Sekiu, WA: 5:34pm PDT

Weather: windy, cool and cloudy, but the rain has let up substantially. Area

rivers are running at or above flood stage. Rumors are flying around the

Peninsula since the Appeals Court ruling, especially the fear that Makah

whalers may launch a " rogue " hunt- in effect, thumbing their nose at the

Court. We have seen no activity to substantiate this rumor, but will

certainly keep you updated on any developments.

*****

 

 

 

FROM THE PENINSULA DAILY NEWS

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Makah mull effects of whale ruling

Monday, June 12, 2000

By Austin Ramzy

 

NEAH BAY -- To Wayne Johnson, captain of the Makah tribe's 1999 hunt that

landed its first whale in 70 years, a court decision against the government

is just another obstacle. " We're pretty tough out here,'' he said Sunday.

" We've been battling with court cases our whole lives. ... We don't have

much money for fighting in court all the time. " It's nothing new for this

tribe to be on trial fighting for our rights.''

 

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals' 9th Circuit ruled 2-1 in San Francisco

on Friday that federal agencies did not properly conduct an environmental

review of the tribe's plan to resume hunting gray whales. The case was

ordered returned to the U.S. District Court in Tacoma for a new

environmental assessment.

 

To Alberta " Binky'' Thompson, the tribe's most outspoken opponent of hunting

whales, the decision was a welcome victory for the creatures swimming the

waters off Cape Flattery. " I've got to feel good because my whales have at

last a short stay of execution and that's the bottom line,'' she said. " I'm

glad that there is a halt, as long as that halt might be.'' She derided

whaling supporters' assertions that the revival of hunting helps to stem

drug and alcohol abuse on the Makah reservation by instilling tribal

tradition and pride. " When they first started they said it was to get the

kids of drugs and booze and out of violence,'' Thompson said. " It hasn't

stopped it. It hasn't even started to stop it.''

 

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

In its ruling, the appellate court said the National Marine Fisheries

Service was biased because it earlier signed an accord with the tribe

supporting whaling. " We, in effect, put the cart before the horse,'' said

Brian Gorman, spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service. In his

dissent Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld said the majority could not point to any

inaccuracies within the environmental assessment of the hunt.

 

In the weekend following the decision, whaling supporters and opponents have

tried to cast the ruling in an image that helps each side's goals. Tribal

officials discounted the ruling as a minor setback, while whaling protesters

said it might signal the beginning of the end of Makah whaling. Makah

officials pointed out that the tribe's 1855 treaty with the U.S. government,

which they say guarantees their right to whale, remains intact.

Keith Johnson, president of the Makah Whaling Commission, did not rule out

the possibility of another hunt before the court case is resolved. But he

said the commission would consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service

before approving any hunt permits.

 

SEA SHEPHERD APPLAUDS

In a written statement Paul Watson of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society, which played a major role in hunt protests last year,

applauded the court's decision. " It has long been our position, now backed

up by the court's decision, that the U.S. federal government simply

rubber-stamped the Makah hunt request rather than conduct a proper

assessment of its environmental impacts, " Watson, who was a key figure in

the Makah whaling opposition between fall 1998 and summer 1999, said. Sea

Shepherd's flagship is now in Amsterdam to try to block the hunt of pilot

whales in a Danish protectorate. The group has not been involved in whaling

protests in Washington this year, but will return if the Makah resume

hunting this fall, Watson said.

 

Makah whaling crews led by brothers John and Paul Parker have unsuccessfully

pursued whales about 10 times this year. Hunters have thrown the harpoon

several times this spring, but have not landed a whale.

A total of six Makah whaling families have told the tribe's whaling

commission that they are interested in hunting this year.

 

Wayne Johnson's family is one that hopes to whale this year. He said the

court ruling frustrated their preparation, but he remains confident the

tribe will persevere. " It's tough getting psyched up and getting ready to go

and then be let down,'' he said. " We keep getting doors shut in front of us

and we keep opening them again somehow.''

*****

 

 

 

FROM CANADIAN BROADCAST CORPORATION (CBC)

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Anti-whaling victory

June 09, 2000

 

VICTORIA - A U.S. federal appeals court in San Francisco has ordered a

halt to the controversial whale hunt by the Makah Tribe of Washington

State. The judge ruled the environmental impact of the hunt had not been

adequately considered.

 

That hunt resumed last spring after grey whales were removed from the

endangered species list, and the tribe received permission from the U.S.

government. The Makah say that included an environmental impact

assessment.

 

The president of the tribe's whaling commission says it looks like the

judge's decision was based on a technicality, which he hopes can be

cleared up. Keith Johnson also says it's not clear to him whether the

court decision puts an immediate stop to the hunt. If it doesn't, the

Makah will keep hunting.

 

" You know, until something happens, " he says, " we're still living for the

opportunity for families to go out, unless there is something new that

comes up from the court. "

 

Anti-whaling activists are celebrating today's ruling. Anna Hall of the

West Coast Anti-Whaling Society says it's about time the courts

intervened.

 

The case now goes back to a court in Washington State for more

proceedings, including possibly a new environmental assessment to be done

by the federal government.

*****

 

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

----------------------------

" This Commission will be known to history as the small body of men who

failed

to act responsibly in the terms of a very large commitment to the world and

who protected the interests of a few whalers and not the future of thousands

of whales " .

 

(Mexican delegate to the 1974 meeting of the IWC.)

*****