THE US was forced into an embarrassing U-turn at the annual meeting of
the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Aberdeen last week. In the
face of
opposition from antiwhaling nations, the Americans dropped their request
for the
Makah tribe of Washington state to be allowed to catch five grey whales next
year.
Further embarrassment could be in store for the US, which for years has used
the threat of trade sanctions to deter countries such as Japan and Norway from
resuming commercial whaling. The tribe may now decide to whale anyway. Tribal
leaders claim that they are legally entitled to do so under a treaty with
the US
government signed in 1855 (鈥淭ender loving
hunters鈥�, New 杏吧原创, 22
June, p 47).
The request on behalf of the Makah was controversial from the start. Under
IWC rules, aboriginal groups can be given quotas for 鈥渟ubsistence鈥�
whaling. This
must be based on nutritional and cultural need. Environmental groups and
committed antiwhaling countries such as Australia and New Zealand pointed out
that the Makah have not whaled for 70 years. Despite this, the US commissioner
to the IWC, James Baker, told the meeting that winning approval for the Makah
hunt was the 鈥渙verriding issue鈥� for his delegation.
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The prospect of new aboriginal quotas alarms environmental groups and
antiwhaling nations, which are usually allies of the US at IWC meetings. 鈥淚t
would set an unfortunate precedent,鈥� says Cassandra Phillips of the World Wide
Fund for Nature, opening the door to whaling by other tribes in the US, Canada
and elsewhere. Currently, the only aboriginal whaling sanctioned by the IWC is
by Alaskan, Russian and Greenland Inuit, plus a catch of two humpbacks per year
off St Vincent in the Caribbean.
The US delegation brought a group of Makah to the meeting, who claimed that
the resumption of whaling could alleviate social problems in the tribe by
strengthening its culture. But environmental groups flew in other Makah, who
argued that the link with the past is already broken. One elder, Alberta
Thompson, told the meeting that a grey whale had been netted accidentally last
year. 鈥淣obody in the village knew how to cut it,鈥� she said.
With Thompson鈥檚 arguments set to win the day, the US delegation decided not
to press for a vote. But while opponents of the plan are pleased with this
victory, they are concerned that the Makah may be able to whale
补苍测飞补测鈥攁苍诲
could possibly also sell whale meat and blubber to Japan. The 1855 treaty, if
interpreted in the Makah鈥檚 favour, could not only leave them free to whale
without IWC approval but also allow them to sell what they catch.
The US was not the only country to abandon a request for aboriginal whaling.
The Russian Inuit have a quota of 140 grey whales. But the revelation that many
of the 85 whales taken last year were shot with automatic rifles and antitank
weapons outraged many delegates. Arguing that anything less than unanimous
approval would be a 鈥渉ostile鈥� act by the IWC, Russia dropped its request for
five bowhead whales to be added to its Inuit quota.