We told ya and told ya and it's true: the Makah led the way

[Guest guest]

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

 

FRM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE

-----

 

Sekiu, WA: 1:25 pm

 

Canadian whalers kill endangered bowhead whale in the Arctic, Japanese

whalers kill endangered Bryde's whale in the Pacific: This is exactly what

was forecast to happen when the Makah killed a gray whale on May 17, 1999.

Both of these groups claim a " cultural " right to kill whales, and with

the United States' long anti-whaling stance compromised by the Makah hunt,

we can expect more of the same in the future. A lot more.

 

We've included two articles related to each of these hunts. Please take

action by visiting www.stopwhalekill.org, where an initiative is now in the

works to fight back!

 

And don't forget to read the quote at the end of the update. We've said it

before, we'll say it now, and we'll say it again: The Makah Nation opened

the door and set the precedent for these killings, and history will hold the

Makah Nation responsible for the thousands of whales whose fate was

sealed that grim May morning in 1999.

 

 

" Remaining silent about the destruction of nature is an endorsement of that

destruction. "

Edward Abbey

*****

 

 

 

CORAL HUNTERS LAND WHALE WITHIN FOUR DAYS OF STARTING THE HUNT

------

 

Maria Canton

Northern News Services

 

Coral Harbour (Aug 14/00) - Only a day after getting the final

approvals, bowhead hunters found success.

 

They harvested one bowhead whale near the community last week, only

four days into the third bowhead whale hunt since the signing of the

Nunavut land claim agreement in 1993.

 

Hunters were operating out of a base camp near Expectation Point on

Southampton Island, about 120 km from Coral Harbour, when a whale

from the Hudson-Foxe Basin population was harpooned and brought to

shore.

 

The whale is now being skinned and cut up for a territory-wide

distribution of the muktaaq.

 

In the days leading up to the kill, spotters constantly scanned the waters

with binoculars, looking for any signs of bowheads.

 

Little to no water traffic was permitted while spotters were looking for

whales and only when one was spotted would the boats be launched.

 

The licence that gave the 10 members of the Coral Harbour hunt

committee the go-ahead to start actively pursuing one whale was officially

issued on Aug. 8.

 

On Aug. 10, Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials gave their final

inspection and approval of the whaling equipment.

 

The next day, the whale was landed.

 

Two DFO officials remained with the hunters to ensure the hunt plan was

being followed and to take scientific evidence once the whale was

caught.

 

On the day the licence was issued, hunt committee chairperson Louie

Bruce said they were not concerned with when the month-and-a-half

long permit expired.

 

" We are only concerned with when we can start; we're not interested in

when it ends, " said Bruce, whose father Mikitok Bruce is the hunt captain

and an experienced whaler.

 

Back in Coral Harbour, the community was buzzing with activity.

 

Several more charters began flying and boating into the Kivalliq

community on the weekend -- 15 elders from Rankin Inlet flew in

Saturday in order to partake in the celebrations.

 

Acting senior administrative officer Emelda Angootealuk said a

committee is organizing a feast, dances and games.

 

" There are so many things going on right now, the community is very

excited, " she said.

 

The daughter of Mikitok Bruce said she and the community were

anxiously awaiting the return of the hunters.

 

" It's been really rainy and windy and no-one has been able to come back

yet, " said Rosemary Sandy on Saturday morning from her father's house.

 

" Everyone is very excited and we're getting ready to have tea and games

as soon as they get back. "

 

Although the hunt was conducted in the Coral Harbour area with local

hunters, the muktaaq from the whale will be distributed among Nunavut's

26 communities.

 

The first hunt was held in 1996 in Repulse Bay and the second was held

in 1998 in Cumberland Sound.

*****

 

 

 

BOWHEAD WHALES MAY LIVE PAST 200

-------

 

Ivory harpoon heads found in the Arctic whales are evidence of their long

lives.

 

by James Hrynyshyn

 

Scientists in the High Arctic may have a new candidate for the oldest animal

on earth. Already known as a creature of extremes, some of the bowhead

whales now playing Canada's arctic waters may even be the very same whales

encountered by Sir John Franklin and his fellow explorers in their search

for the Northwest Passage.

 

" People recoiled a bit, " says Craig George, lead researcher with Alaska's

North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, recalling the first

reactions to the suggestion that bowheads can make it past the second

century. But the evidence, detailed in the latest issue of Equinox magazine,

is compelling.

 

The first sign came almost 20 years ago in the form of a traditional harpoon

head found imbedded in the blubber of a whale landed by Alaskan Inuit

whalers. " Then we started seeing more. That's what really got me excited, "

says George. Since then, the whalers have pulled at least six stone and

ivory harpoon heads from their catches. Anthropologists at the Smithsonian

Institution in Washington, D.C., date the points to at least 130 years ago.

 

Proof to back up the circumstantial evidence of the harpoons wasn't easy to

come by, as none of the usual aging techniques would work.

 

B.C.'s killer whales, for example, have been photographed and cataloged so

thoroughly that most ages are known precisely. In other species, such as the

blue whale, growth layers of ear plugs or baleen can be counted, again

producing relatively useful estimate of age. But the layers in bowheads are

too thin, and photo-identification too difficult.

 

Fortunately, biochemistry offered an alternative, one that requires

scientists to look deep into the bowhead's eyes. The lens of the eye are

composed of dozens of layers of protein, the first laid down while still in

the womb. Once formed, that material is no longer biologically active and

the amino acids that make of the lens begin a form of decay. Measurements of

the decay products can be used to determine how long it's been since it was

first deposited - in effect, a pre-birth date.

 

Using 48 bowheads harvested between 1978 and 1996, George and a team of

biologists in Barrow, Alaska, extracted the eyes and had the lens analyzed.

The results showed four of the whales were more than 100 years old, and one

may have topped 211.

 

Even with a margin of error of 25 years, that would make bowheads the oldest

mammals around, period. Elephants don't live much past 60, while female

killer whales may make it to 90. And the were only dead because hunters had

killed them. How long could they live if allowed to die of natural causes?

" Again, I think we're going to see bowheads out there on the edge, " says

George.

 

The study has astounded some veteran biologists. John Ford, a marine mammal

specialist at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, and no stranger

to bowhead research, calls the new longevity estimates " a real eye-opener, "

and a dose of humility.

 

" Seldom had I ever seen an estimate of over 100 years for any whale. I know

many people at first didn't believe it, and thought it had to be prank, " he

says. " It's great example of just how much we don't understand about the

biology of whales. It's right there with the discovery of new species. "

 

The study also offers a sobering lesson in whale conservation. Both eastern

and western stocks of the bowhead were almost wiped out during the whaling

era. For those of the Western Arctic, recovery from the whaling era is

measurable, at three per cent a year, though a long time coming.

 

In the Eastern Arctic, however, evidence of population growth is

frustratingly scarce. Reliable estimates are hard to come by, but the total

population is almost certainly much less than a 1,000 and may be closer to

450, divided among two subpopulation. It is possible the eastern population

may be growing, but in true bowhead fashion, growth is agonizingly slow.

 

The Inuit of Nunavut are regularly awarded a license to land one whale every

year or two. But even that level of harvest could strain a population that

takes such a long time to reach reproductive maturity.

 

Negotiations to create Canada's first whale sanctuary, at Isabella Bay on

the northeast coast of Baffin Island, began several years ago, but are

stalled over economic benefits for the Inuit.

 

This article is adapted from the September issue of Equinox magazine.

*****

 

 

 

 

A REPREHENSIBLE WHALE HUNT

-----

 

New York Times - 8/15/2000

 

Over the years, Japanese whalers have killed thousands of whales in the name

of scientific research. But this has merely been a cover for commercial

whaling aimed at satisfying Japanese eating habits, in defiance of a 1986

moratorium on commercial whaling that Japan itself signed.

 

Japan is now using the same argument to justify its latest whale hunt,

involving six whaling ships that are in the Northwestern Pacific to hunt

minke, Bryde's and sperm whales. The hunt has stirred outrage among other

signatories to the treaty. In recent days the State Department has

threatened to block Japanese imports under an American law authorizing

penalties against any nation that violates a marine conservation treaty.

 

This will be the first time in 13 years that the Japanese have hunted sperm

and Bryde's whales. Though minke whales are relatively plentiful, sperm and

Bryde's whales were nearly wiped out in the 1980's, before they came under

the protection of the moratorium. Japan's actions pose a major threat to

their survival. The United States is justified in invoking the so-called

Pelly Amendment, which authorizes trade sanctions. The rest of the

international community should follow suit.

 

The Japanese say that the West is culturally arrogant in asking them to

abandon whale meat. But whale meat is not a staple there, only a luxury

food. The Japanese can afford a small culinary sacrifice to preserve these

majestic animals.

*****

 

 

 

AN ANCIENT TASTE FOR THE WHALE KEEPS JAPAN FISHING

---------

 

Paris, Friday, August 11, 2000

By Calvin Sims, New York Times Service

 

TOKYO - To understand why Japan expanded its whale hunting activities last

month, despite international opposition, come to dinner at Taruichi, a

festive whale-meat restaurant in Tokyo's trendy Shinjuku district.

On a recent evening, not a seat or sake glass was empty in Taruichi as

dozens of jovial patrons, ranging from business executives to domestic

workers, feasted on the house specialties. There were 36 choices in all,

including fried whale, raw whale, whale bacon, whale heart, whale testicle,

whale kidney, and even ice cream made from the whale's fat.

 

Many foreign governments and environmental groups opposed to Japan's

stepped-up whaling efforts might have found the cuisine a bit, well, hard to

swallow. But it was an evening of culinary bliss for Japanese diners, many

of whom grew up eating whale and consider it part of their national culture

and identity that they strongly defend.

 

''After the war, there was nothing to eat in Japan, and we would have

starved if it were not for the whale bacon and steaks that the government

provided us in school lunches,'' said Hiromi Kanomuri, a 47-year-old

copywriter, who munched on pieces of whale skin.

 

''We may eat the whale, but we also revere it,'' Mr. Kanomuri said. ''How

can a total stranger tell us not to hunt whales without knowing how much

this meat means to us? Such arrogance annoys me.''

 

The stranger to which Mr. Kanomuri so pointedly referred was the United

States, which has threatened to impose sanctions on Japan for extending its

whale hunts to include sperm and Bryde's whales, which are both protected by

U.S. endangered species laws. The Japanese already hunt minke whales, which

are abundant enough to allow limited harvesting.

 

Japan is a member of the International Whaling Commission, which banned

commercial whaling in 1982, but the convention allows signees to engage in

limited hunts for scientific purposes.

 

Six Japanese whaling ships are now heading for the northwestern Pacific with

the goal of hunting 160 minke as well as 50 Bryde's and 10 sperm whales, all

in the name of science. It will be the first time since 1987 that Japan has

hunted Bryde's and sperm whales, but few people outside Japan believe the

expedition is solely for research purposes.

 

Although Japan maintains that sperm and Bryde's whales are now populous

enough to be hunted commercially, international consensus is that not enough

is known about these once depleted species to justify even scientific

whaling.

 

After a meeting in Tokyo last week with Foreign Minister Yohei Kono,

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that the United States was deeply

troubled by Japan's decision to expand its hunt, which she said was

''contrary to whaling agreements.''

 

Mrs. Albright said the United States would not hesitate to retaliate.

 

Under the Pelly Amendment to a 1967 fisheries law, the United States can

embargo imports from any nation that violates a marine conservation treaty.

 

Britain also denounced Japan's whale hunt, as did several conservation

groups, including the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace. But the Japanese

maintain that no one has the right to tell them what they should not eat.

 

''Americans are a bunch of culinary imperialists,'' said Takashi Sato,

Taruichi's owner. ''Telling the Japanese not to hunt whales is like telling

the British to stop having their afternoon tea or denying French people

their paté. This is how you start a war.''

 

A jolly man of ample girth, Mr. Sato is fond of pounding his broad chest and

proclaiming that he is made of ''100 percent whale meat,'' which he said he

has eaten every day since he was old enough to chew.

 

The Japanese have been hunting whales for more than 1,000 years, and there

are dozens of shrines, regional festivals and religious ceremonies centered

on the whale.

 

To be sure, the popularity of whale meat, which was a vital source of

protein after World War II, has declined substantially in Japan in the years

following the international moratorium on commercial whale hunts in 1986.

But for many elderly and middle-aged Japanese, the whale is embedded in

their taste buds, if not their psyches, and they are willing to pay a

premium to eat it.

 

Whale bacon costs about $150 a pound in Japanese department stores compared

with $100 a pound for top-quality beef. Many Japanese are willing to shell

out $50 to $80 a person to dine on whale meat delicacies. A sliver of whale

bacon about the size of a business card costs $5

 

''Eating whale is as symbolic and important to the Japanese as saving the

whale is to us,'' said an American biologist who opposes Japanese whaling

but acknowledges cultural differences in the way the two countries view the

sea mammal.

 

''Our only hope is that younger generations of Japanese will see things

differently,'' said the biologist, who is a member of the International

Whaling Commission and spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Japanese Fisheries Ministry officials dispute U.S. charges that Japan is

violating international whaling treaties. The officials maintain that their

whale hunts are permitted by the International Whaling Commission, which,

when it banned commercial whaling, allowed whales to be killed for

scientific purposes.

 

Japan caught about 400 minke whales under the scientific research exemption

last year. After the scientific data was collected, the whale meat was sold

to fish markets and restaurants like Taruichi. Oil and other byproducts from

the whales was used to make cosmetics and perfumes. The proceeds are used to

help finance the research.

 

Scientists from the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo oversee the

whaling expeditions. While the institute makes about $35 million a year from

the sale of whale meat from its scientific catches, it costs about $40

million a year to conduct the research. The institute receives a government

subsidy of $5 million a year to offset its shortfall.

 

Minoru Morimoto, Japan's whaling commissioner, said that Japan has resumed

hunting sperm and Bryde's whale because research data suggest that their

populations have sufficiently recovered to allow the scientific catches. The

new research is being conducted to gather information on habitat, diet and

migration patterns of the whales, Mr. Morimoto said.

 

Japan is particularly interested in understanding the eating habits of

larger whales like the sperm and Bryde's, which many Japanese scientists,

Mr. Morimoto said, believe are diminishing Japan's seafood supply.

 

While conservationists concede that Japan's scientific expeditions can be

justified under whaling commission rules, they maintain that Japan is using

research whaling as a cover for commercial whaling because the meat ends up

in the marketplace.

 

Critics of Japan's scientific whale hunt also say that there are ways to

conduct the same research without killing so many whales.

 

''It's all one big facade,'' said Sanae Sida, a spokeswoman for the

Greenpeace environmental group in Tokyo. ''With today's high technology and

advances in science, the Japanese government expects us to believe that the

only way to obtain this research is by killing the animals.''

*****

 

 

 

EYE-OPENING QUOTE

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

" Makah Tribal Council representative Keith Johnson, accompanied by a

representative from another tribe, is meeting with Japanese trade officials

to discuss terms of trade in " mammals, " according to the minutes of the

Makah Tribal Council, which do not further identify the commodity in

question. "

 

Australian Student Environment Network,

Fall, 1998