News from Washington State, The Whaling State

[Guest guest]

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

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZENS' COASTAL ALLIANCE

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

 

MEDIA: SPINNING AND WEAVING AGAIN

 

It has apparently become a source of some amusement for certain media to

" blame " the plaintiffs in Metcalf v. Daley (as well as other whaling

opponents) for the relaxed set of rules laid down in the new EA. It seems

that irony sells better than fact. To those media types, we say; " Shame! "

 

To those of you who enjoy playing fast and loose with facts in order to sell

a few more papers (or TV time), allow us to help you regain the high ground

with these facs:

 

1) The new EA is the responsibility of the National Marine Fisheries Service

(and the Bush administration), not of those who have opposed the hunt.

Preparation of said document was done by the " usual suspects " - a handful of

federal employees who have established a long record of biased promotion for

Makah whaling regardless of law, fact or circumstance. (Note Brian Gorman's

comments below, or nearly any news article since 1995)

 

2) The bias so evident in previous EAs is even more obvious in this one,

although we have seen no media scrutiny of this phenomenon. (See #1)

 

3) Even a cursory glance shows that the new EA is as flawed (if not more so)

than the original. (See #1 and #2)

 

In short, to casually lay blame at the plaintiff's feet for what is a

shockingly biased, flawed EA in which plaintiffs's concerns were completely

ignored and dismissed is not only unprofessional, it is callous and

irresponsible. Whatever happened to investigative reporting in this country?

Go do your jobs!

 

Now, on with the news!

*****

 

 

 

'RESIDENT' WHALES NOW FAIR GAME

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

 

Assessment relaxes hunt rules for Makah

By Brian Gawley

Peninsula Daily News

July 15, 2001

 

Federal officials say the Makah tribe can resume their whale hunts with

fewer restrictions on when and where the gray whales can be killed.

 

A new environmental assessment broadens the hunt to include so-called

" resident " whales and increases the Makah's whaling territory.

 

Previously limited to the open Pacific, the U.S. government will now allow

the tribe to take any gray whale any time of the year and in the calmer,

more sheltered Strait of Juan de Fuca- far safer and more convenient to the

Makah reservation and its port of Neah Bay.

 

The assessment determined that the " resident whales " - a small population of

gray whales that stays in Northwest waters and doesn't migrate- are

biologically identical to other grays, and that the total population of gray

whale is at a historic high, about 26,000 animals.

 

The decision- hailed by the Makah, loudly denounced by whaling opponents-

means the Makah could go out in their hand-hewn cedar canoe " Hummingbird "

later this summer and try to harpoon a whale.

 

" Now we can go about the business of exercising our treaty right, " said

Makah tribal chairman Greig Arnold, shortly after the new ruling was issued

Friday.

 

Before any hunts occur, however, the tribe and National Marine Fisheries

Service- which did the new environmental assessment under a court order-

must sign off on a management agreement governing the terms of the hunt.

 

It's also unclear how long it will take for the Makah " whaling families " to

get ready for a hunt. Two families are actively preparing to whale, Arnold

said.

 

Makah attorney John Arum said negotiating a new agreement with the fisheries

service should take only a few weeks. He said the tribe could resume whaling

as soon as late next month or September.

 

Several Makah families hunted unsuccessfully in April and May of 2000 before

whaling was discontinued after a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

ruled 2-1 to overturn the ruling that cleared legal obstacles to whaling,

saying the environmental impact report had not been adequately done by the

fisheries service.

 

The only whale killed so far by the Makah was a 29-foot, 30-ton female gray

whale harpooned, then shot with a .50-caliber rifle, on May 17, 1999, during

a hunt comprised of members of several Makah families. The kill marked the

first successful whale hunt by the Makah since the 1920s.

 

Ever since that day in May 1999 " no one is the same, " said Arnold. " That was

a moment-of-life change, something very deep. We are connecting with our

past, and that is hugely important. "

 

OPPONENTS BLAST DECISION

 

Chuck Owens of Joyce said it was fitting for his organization that the

decision came out on Friday the 13th. Owens is the directore of the

Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales.

 

" (The decision) will cast a dark shadow on the Peninsula, this community and

its relationships, " said Owens. " It will be a death sentence for the

whales. "

 

" It's very sad what will happen to our community at large. I can't see how

it will be a good thing for anybody. "

 

Owens said anti-whaling groups are prepared to take issue back to court.

 

Tami Drake, an activist with Ocean Defense International, disputes National

Fisheries' view on resident whales, and she says they need special

protection, even if they are biologically identical to the rest of the herd.

 

Drake and Jonathan Paul, founder of Ocean Defense International, the

anti-whaling group, will take their case to London for the annual meeting of

the International Whaling Commission next week.

 

But Janine Bowechop, Makah Cultural and Research Center director said: " The

elimination of the seasonal and area restrictions should enable Makah whale

hunting to return to its rightful place at the center of cultural life. Our

whaling crews will now be able to hunt as dictated by cultural need and will

not be burdened by unnecessary regulations. "

 

" While we realize many non-Makahs have a difficult time understanding the

importance of whaling, its resumption has strengthened our community and has

strengthened our resolve to preserve our important cultural traditions. "

*****

 

 

 

A TWIST OF FATE

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

Peninsula Daily News

July 15, 2001

 

OPPONENTS' SUIT BENEFITS TRIBE

 

The new environmental assessment that clears the way for Makah whale hunts

to resume- and even expand- concluded that the tribe's hunts don't threaten

the population of Pacific gray whales.

 

Ironically, the assessment by the National Marine Fisheries Service was

ordered after a federal lawsuit was filed by anti-whaling groups trying to

stop the hunts.

 

With an increase in the Makah's whaling territory- and broadening the hunts

to include so-called " resident whales " - the result is " a much more liberal

set of rules, " said Brian Gorman, a National Fisheries spokesman.

 

" That wasn't what the plaintiffs hoped for, " he added.

 

Whaling was halted more than a year ago after the 9th Circuit Court of

Appeals concluded the fisheries service prematurely authorized the Makah to

go whale hunting. The court said National Marine Fisheries should have done

the assessment before working out a hunt agreement with the Makah.

 

The Makah- whose right to whale is specified in a 1855 treaty- moved to

resume whaling when the whales were taken off the Endangered Species List in

1994, a step that generated considerable protest from animal-conservation

groups.

 

After making their case to the International Whaling Commission, Makah

whalers were allocated 20 whales through 2002 in an arrangement with the

U.S. government. They killed one, on May 17, 1999.

 

" Our obligation is to accomodate the federal government's trust

responsibilities and treaty whaling rights while making sure that tribal

whaling won't threaten the eastern North Pacific gray whale population, "

said William Hogarth, acting director of National Fisheries. " This

assessment does exactly that. "

 

A news release from fisheries service say the new report found " there is no

biological reason " for time-and-place restrictions previously agreed to by

the tribe.

 

The assessment says the tribe may hunt year-round and into the Strait of

Juan de Fuca, Gorman said.

 

Because of conerns about the so-called resident whales, the Makah had

previously hunted only in the open Pacific Ocean around Neah Bay during the

gray whales' annual fall migration to Baja California for breeding and their

spring return to feeding grounds off Alaska.

 

Some scientists contend there is a distinct population of gray whales that

stay in Northwest waters, and that these must be protected from Makah

harpoons.

 

The new assessment says there is no biological reason to restrict the hunt

to the whales' migration period or to the open ocean.

 

Federal biologists concluded that the resident whales- which linger in

inland waters along the migration route- mix, breed with and are part of the

much larger ocean-based main population, rather than a distinct population.

 

" The Makah position that all whales are migrating whales is fundamentally

correct, " Gorman said.

 

The assessment says the population now numbers about 26,000 animals-

possibly its highest level since full-scale commercial whaling began in the

mid-19th century.

 

The Makah are the only U.S. tribe specifically granted the right to whale by

treaty. The tribe stopped whaling in the early 20th century, after

commercial whaling had decimated global populations.

 

The whale taken in May 1999 was consumed by tribal members and allies.

*****

 

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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

 

" The five whales per year quota proposed by the US on behalf of the Makah

was

based not upon proven nutritional need, but as a representation of five

ancestral villages where no one now lives, excepting Neah Bay. "

 

(Eco-online, 52nd IWC meeting)

*****