The state of whaling in the US

[Guest guest]

I urge animal advocates and activists to become concerned about the return

of worldwide commercial whaling. The International Whaling Conference will

be riven by this issue at its

general meeting this month. One excellent website to visit is

www.stopwhalekill.org; once you've visited, please join and help us fight

for the whales.

 

Dian

 

 

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

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZENS' COASTAL ALLIANCE

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U.S. REPORT ON MAKAH WHALING NEAR?

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Activists fret over results of assessment

 

by Elizabeth Williams

Peninsula Daily News

July 8, 2001

 

The National Marine Fisheries Service is about to settle the argument of

whether Makah whale hunting substantially affects gray whales.

 

Marine Fisheries spokesman Tom Eagle said the long-awaited environmental

assessment is sitting on the lead investigator's desk in Silver Spring, Md.

However, he said he didn't know what the final findings are.

 

That makes local anti-whaling activists worry.

 

" What we've heard is hat it's bad, bad bad from our perspective, " said

Margaret Owens, a member of Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales.

 

FOUR OPTIONS

The four possible options outlined by Marine Fisheries in the draft

assessment are:

 

-The federal government grants the Makah a quota of five whales per year.

Like previous agreements, the Makah would hunt west of the mouth of the

Strait of Juan de Fuca during the whale's migration period.

 

-The quota remains a five whales a year, but with a limited hunt outside the

December through June migration period. This alternative addresses the

tribe's interest in conducting summer hunts in the Strait, where the water

is much calmer.

 

-No restrictions on when and where the tribe can hunt, as long as the

whalers stay within the five whale annual limit and within their " usual and

accustomed " hunting areas.

 

-No whaling for the tribe.

 

MONDAY RELEASE?

The federal environmental assessment team was out of the office Friday, but

Eagle said the report could be released as early as Monday. Marine

Fisheries, which has headquarters outside Washington, D.C., has had a team

working on the environmental analysis since last summer.

 

Makah Chairman Greig Arnold said he is happy the assessment is finally going

to be released. He said he expects the report will confirm the Makah's

position that whaling has a negligible effect on whale populations.

 

" What it means is we get to go back to exercising our treaty rights, " Arnold

said.

 

The Makah have not killed a whale since 1999- their first successful hunt in

more than 70 years. They went on two unsuccessful hunts in the spring of

2000, but agreed not to hunt again until an analysis of the hunting of gray

whales was completed.

 

WHALING UNDER FIRE

In June 2000, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the assessment

after whale activists protested the legality of the hunt. They said the

government had violated the law by not doing a complete environmental

assessment before allowing the Makah to hunt.

 

The Makah came under fire again in June for harvesting meat from a whale

which beached itself on an Olympic National Park beach.

 

While the Makah did not technically hunt the whale, park officials granted

them the right to the carcass because the whale landed on the Makah's " usual

and accustomed " whaling grounds as outlined in the Neah Bay treaty of 1855.

*****

 

 

 

POINT OF VIEW

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By Margaret Owens

Peninsula Daily News

July 8, 2001

 

Why didn't they help that baby whale? (Barely twelve feet from nose to

tail).

The tide that had beached the little whale-daughter, could have, with help,

put her back in deep water.

She did have some teeth marks in her soft hide, and a flipper was bitten on

the one side.

But these wounds didn't kil her, 'cuz day after day,

She breathed and she watched and she lived where she lay.

 

Hikers reported her stranded on Monday, she had been there, they said, at

least since Sunday.

People would come and stay by her awhile, look into her eyes, see her sad

gray whale smile.

The hot sun did blister her delicate skin. It's awful to think of the pain

she was in.

 

Who made the decision to just let her lay? Since when do we treat precious

wildlife this way?

She lived until Wednesday, her butchering day. I'm so sad, little whale,

your life ended this way.

 

-Everywhere else in the world, heroic attempts are made to help whales in

trouble. But here on the Peninsula, the " powers that be " kept the plight of

this whale top secret until almost a week after she was butchered. There

were no heroes this time.

*****

 

 

 

JAPAN'S FISHERIES MINISTER ARRIVES IN U.S. FOR HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS

 

Sparking New Concerns over Japanese Whaling

 

WASHINGTON, July 6 -/E-Wire/PRNewswire/--

 

Japan's Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Tsutomu Takebe, is due to

arrive in Washington on 8 July 2001, for a three-day visit to promote

Japan's whaling program.

 

This announcement comes despite concerns raised by U.S. President George

Bush in his 30 June meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro

Koizumi. The Minister's visit also follows recent U.S. Congressional actions

against Japanese whaling including the introduction of a bipartisan

resolutions in the U.S. House and Senate and sharp criticism of Japanese

whaling by leading conservation groups such as the International Fund for

Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org).

 

Minister Takebe is expected to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald

Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellnick, in an effort to

" strongly call on the resumption of commercial whaling, from the views of

sustainable utilization of resources based on science, " according to Jiji

Press coverage of a recent press conference held by Minister Takebe.

 

Minister Takebe's visit also comes in the wake of new U.S. national poll

results released on 26 June showing 83% of U.S. voters oppose Japanese and

Norwegian commercial whaling, and that nearly 70% would be supportive of

U.S. government trade sanctions against those countries until they stop

killing whales. A strong 72% of U.S. voters would support a boycott of

Japanese and Norwegian companies linked to commercial whaling. The poll was

carried out in May by noted Republican pollster Fred Steeper of Market

Strategies, Inc., on behalf of IFAW.

 

" Japan continues to lobby shamelessly worldwide for support of its

industrial whaling operations, " said IFAW President Fred O'Regan. " The U.S.

government should send a strong message to Minister Takabe consistent with

the overwhelming views of U.S. citizens and the growing international

opposition to Japan's commercial whaling. "

 

Japan kills hundreds of whales each year under the guise of what it calls

" scientific whaling " and has recently expanded its hunt to include

endangered Bryde's and sperm whales -- whales protected by international

conventions, including a moratorium imposed by the International Whaling

Commission (IWC).

 

To find out more about this issue listen to an archive of our 26 June 2001

press briefing with Congressman George Miller (D-CA) at:

http://www.videonewswire.com/IFAW/062601/.

 

Editors: For a copy of the signed Congressional letter to President Bush,

visit the breaking news section of www.ifaw.org. For a copy of the poll

results and House resolution, visit:

http://www.ifaw.org/page.asp?unitid=329.

 

SOURCE: International Fund for Animal Welfare

*****

 

 

 

CONGRESS TAKES ACTION ON WHALING

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Representatives William Delahunt (D-MA), Wayne Gilchest (R-MD), George

Miller (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) have introduced H Con Res 180, the

Whaling Resolution, into the House of Representatives. H Con Res 180

expresses " the sense of the Congress that the United States should

reaffirm its opposition to any commercial and lethal scientific whaling

and take significant and demonstrable actions, including at the

International Whaling Commission and meetings of the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species, to provide protection for and

conservation of the world's whale populations and to prevent trade in

whale meat. " A Senate version of the Whaling Resolution, S Con Res 121,

has also been introduced in the Senate by Senator John Kerry (D-MA).

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and ask them to cosponsor

the Whaling Resolution, to save the world's endangered and threatened

whales. Ask your U.S. Representative to cosponsor H Con Res 180 (write to:

The Honorable (full name), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC

20515) and ask your U.S. Senator to cosponsor S Con Res121 (write to: The

Honorable (full name), U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510). Call the

Congressional switchboard at (202) 225-3121 to be connected to your

legislators' offices. To look up the names of your legislators, go to

www.vote-smart.org or call us at (202) 955-3666 for more help.

*****

 

 

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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" With the results of most recent survey data showing the support of over 80

percent of the American public to stop commercial whaling and with the

recent political changes in Japan, now is the time for the US government, on

behalf of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around

the world, to reaffirm that the will of the international community can no

longer be ignored.

 

" I urge the Bush administration to follow through on its stated commitment

to the proper enforcement of international whaling treaties and the

protection of whales against illegal predators. "

 

Congressman George Miller (D-CA)

June 26, 2001

*****