Guest guest Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 ===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZENS' COASTAL ALLIANCE ---------------------- Here are two accounts of the US delegation's continuing deception at the recently-closed IWC meeting. First, information from Ocean Defense International on the shady dealings of the US delegation, followed by the account posted on ECO online... " When asked about the status of Makah whaing during the Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling working group last week, why didn't the US tell the truth about the new quota granted to the Makah? Why did they skirt the issue by stating simply that the hunt was suspended in 2000 due to a court order? Why didn't they tell the member nations that they had eased the restrictions on the Makah hunt and that they would commence whaling next month? A number of member nations wanted to know the same thing. The esteemed delegate from Mexico directly asked the US that question today during plenary. They asked the delegation to enlighten the rest of the commission on the current status of Makah whaling. The US stated that they had to redo the EA, but the right to hunt was not questioned by the court. They stated that their new EA allowed a limited hunt that wouldn't hurt the eastern Pacific stock of gray whales and that there was no biological reason to restrict the hunt. They also said that hunting in the Strait protects the feeding whales. Huh? Did they really say that? The US delegation and NMFS are still speaking " doublespeak " when it comes to discussing who actually recognized the aboriginal subsistence needs of the Makah Tribe. When asked directly by the Austrian delegate if the new Environmental Assessment has considered the issues of cultural and nutritional need, Rollie Schmitten answered, " The EA has considered the issues of cultural subsistence and nutritional needs. " However, in reviewing the entire 92 page Environmental Assessment, there is not one mention of the Makah tribe's nutritional need. As a matter of fact, the phrase " nutritional need " never appears in the document. The word " nutrition " appears but twice on pages 38 and 39 and it is in reference to the gray whales nutrition or lack thereof, not the Makah's... " (Thanks to Tami Drake of ODI) ***** ROLLIE'S FOLLY ---------------------- Obfuscation is a diplomat's duty. But seldom does one resort to an outright lie-especially in a roomful of critics and video cameras. The U.S. commissioner was " economical with the truth, " as the English say, when he answered a question about the latest Makah whaling permit. On Wednesday, the Austrian commissioner asked: " As I remember in Monaco, we agreed to this hunt under the conditions that cultural, subsistence and nutritional need is proven. Therefore, my question. Does the Environmental Assessment report take into account the cultural, subsistence and nutritional need? " Replied the U.S. Commissioner: " Finally, to the question from the delegate of Austria, that the Environmental Assessment has considered the issues of cultural, subsistence and nutritional needs. " However, a word-by-word review of the entire 92-page Environmental Assessment shows not a single mention of the Makah tribe's nutritional need. The phrase " nutritional need " never appears in the document. The word " nutrition " appears twice, on pages 38 and 39, but in reference to the gray whales' nutrition, or lack thereof, and not the Makahs. " Sadly, the U.S. Government's record in the whole Makah affair has been riddled with deceit and deception. (From " Eco " Online- daily news from the IWC, July 28, 2001) ***** IWC AWARDS (ECO ONLINE) --------------------- Golden Flukes «Mexico» For strong statements and votes and a historic change to support the commission's role in protection of small cetaceans. «New Zealand» For leading the charge against Japan's vote-buying. «Austria» For seeking the inclusion of LFA in threats to cetaceans. Copper Cockroaches «Icelandic Commissioner Asmundsson» For achieving new heights of arrogance in the day-one melodrama, and then whining for the rest of the week about what his vote would have been if he had one. «Japanese Commissioner Komatsu» For failing to recognize the difference between a cockroach and a whale. ***** HOW TO STOP THE WHALE SLAUGHTER Is Paul Dacre going mad? --------------------- The mass extinction of species perpetrated by early man in Europe was accompanied by a flowering of art in the caves of France and northern Spain. As the woolly rhinoceros, buffalo and mammoth were being hunted to oblivion, our immensely organised and imaginative ancestors were recording the animals in some of the most vivid paintings ever executed. The cave paintings are compelling because they were magic aides to success in the field as well as an expression of man's wonder at his fellow creatures. No one has painted a horse better than the artist of the Chauvet cave in France who was working 30,000 years ago. As the Japanese whaling fleet sets out to kill minke, Bryde's and sperm whales in the northern Pacific ocean this week, we may reflect that exactly the same dual instincts of barbarity and awe are alive in us today. Anyone who has seen the back of a whale break the surface, as I did off Maine in the US three years ago, is filled with lifelong wonder. People who have not seen whales marvel at the idea of their presence in the oceans. And yet we allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to press for the return of hunting which would inevitably end in the extinction of many species of whale. Japan attempted to rig the voting system at the International Whaling Commission by buying the support of Dominica , Antigua and the Solomon Islands - countries which have no whaling industry. At present the Japanese kill 600 whales a year for " research purposes " , a ludicrous charade which is lent no great credibility by the Japanese whalers who ostentatiously flourish measuring devices when helicopters pass over the fleet. The whales, mostly minkes, are all bound for the Japanese food industry. The shortfall is made up by the butchery of dolphins and Dall's porpoise, which are killed in huge numbers and sold as whale meat. The country's environmental record is atrocious. Its consumption of rare tropical hardwoods and the trade in ivory and rhino continue unaffected by world opinion. As in the slaughter of whales, the Japanese see these things as cultural rights, and because it is the second largest economic power in the world it doesn't mind using its muscle to exercise them. My own view is that nothing is too bad for a nation which puts the interests of its jaded, grasping consumers before the very existence of a species. If we feel strongly enough about an increase in whaling we should prepare a popular boycott of the Japanese electronics industry which is already suffering from the downturn. On the evidence of the behaviour at the whaling commission that is the only language the Japanese government understands. The same applies to Norway and Iceland, although I must say I find it difficult to name a single Icelandic product to boycott. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***** QUOTE OF THE WEEK (MISSING: Any mention of the word " Makah " ) ------------------------ " So, Alaskan whaling goes on under IWC regulations; whaling in Greenland, in Siberia, and St. Vincent. That is permitted because these people are recognized as having special needs. " (Ray Gambell, ex-Secretary, IWC Caribbean Broadcasting Union, media symposium on Marine Resource Sustainable Use in Economic Development Barbados, Jun. 5, 2001) ***** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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