Over the past few months, newspapers in the U.S.A and Canada have given considerable attention to events taking place on the Makah Indian reservation in Washington State. For those whose local or national media have not covered these events, we refer to the gray whale hunts the Makah will carry out when the appointed whaling captain decides the time is right. Media coverage of the Makah situation is noteworthy for the amount of misinformation being reported, and the apparent gullibility of the assembled journalists. There are exceptions of course, and Paul Shukovsky (of the Seattle Post Intelligencer) and Jody Paterson (of the Victoria B.C. Times Colonist) appear able and willing to report news, rather than invent it. For those journalists only too willing to uncritically report the stories put out by the leader of the main protest group confronting the Makah, here are some of his instructions written as a guide for protesters wishing to influence the press and public: "If you do not know an answer, a fact, a statistic then... make it up on the spot", "Despite media pretensions, facts are not a priority for most media", "[for] the mass media today... the truth is irrelevant... Ronald Regan understood that the facts are not relevant", "a headline comment in Monday's newspaper far outweights the revelation of inaccuracy revealed... inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday" (see, Earthforce: An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, by Paul Watson, 1993). For further information on the Makah, readers may want to consult the Makah's own webpages (www.makah.com, and www.northolympic.com/makah/map.html) or access area newspapers through the World Council of Whalers' webpage (www.island.net/~wcw).
The 1998 Norwegian minke whaling season ended on August 17 with 624 whales taken from the quota of 671. A total of 950 tonnes of meat sold for NOK 29 - 30/kg [ca. US$4/kg]. The minimum price, set before the season began, was NOK 27/kg. Blubber sold for NOK 3/kg. For most of the 34 vessels participating in the hunt the season extended from May 3 - July 10, with the North Season hunt extended to August 1. The three boats operating off the north coast of Norway were granted a two week extension beginning on August 13; these boats took 16 of their allotted quota of 19 whales. There are five management areas, each with its allotted quota: Barents Sea, 285 whales; Spitsbergen, 129 whales; North Sea, 138 whales; Jan Mayen, 57 whales, and Vestfjorden, 15 whales. Since the resumption of Norwegian minke whaling in 1993, the annual take has increased over the six years: 1993, 226 whales; 1994, 280; 1995, 218; 1996, 388; 1997, 503; and 624 in 1998. The population of minke whales in the combined Northeast and Central North Atlantic stocks is estimated at 184,000.
A new Gallup poll conducted between September 28 and October 11 1998 has found that support among Icelanders for a resumption of whaling is now higher than in the past. Whaling was suspended in Iceland in 1989. When asked whether they were "in favour or against Icelanders starting whaling again", 81% answered yes, 10% answered no and 9% had no opinion. This level of support was higher than at any time since 1993 since national polls on the subject were started in 1993. The poll was administered to a random sample of 1,152 people, 72% of whom responded. Support for a resumption of whaling was 85% in rural Iceland and 77% in the capital region. Overall, 84% of male respondents supported a resumption of whaling compared to 77% for females.
Asked whether the presence of the captive killer whale Keiko (newly arrived in Iceland from the U.S.A) would make it more difficult to resume whaling, 49.7% answered yes, whilst 48.8% believed it would make no difference and 1.4% thought it would make a return to whaling easier. For more information on Iceland's position on whaling refer to www.highnorth.no/ic-po-on.htm
The 8th General Assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference was held in Nuuk, Greenland, July 24 - 31 1998. A number of resolutions pertaining to whaling and trade in marine mammal products were adopted by delegates representing Inuit communities in Canada, Greenland, Russia and the U.S.A. These included:
Small Cetaceans and the I.W.C. which resolved... "that the ICC support the position of Canada, Denmark and Greenland that (1) the IWC should not be involved in the management of the use of small cetaceans, and (2) scientific and other information concerning small cetaceans, their use, and management continue to be shared freely in the IWC Scientific Committee".
Pangnirtung Bowhead Whale Hunt, which, whilst congratulating the Pangnirtung Inuit for successfully taking a bowhead on July 21 1998, noted, inter alia, that "Inuit knowledge of bowhead is critical to conserving and protecting the traditional relationship between Inuit and bowhead, as this knowledge is required to monitor and assess the health, size, and recovery of bowhead in the Eastern Canadian [Arctic]", that "there has been a substantial and documented increase in bowheads in Cumberland Sound since the cessation of commercial whaling by foreign interests in the 1920s", and "research undertaken by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board indicates that bowheads virtually everywhere in Nunavut waters have increased in numbers".
Subsistence is a Fundamental Right of Inuit, which noted the basic relationship existing between subsistence and the continued viability of Inuit communities, the recognition afforded the right to subsistence in international law, and the disregard of these legal rights by many governments including threats in Alaska represented by "efforts to amend the existing federal subsistence preference and transfer the administration of Inuit subsistence to a hostile state government", and that "Inuit regulation of the bowhead whale, polar bear and other marine mammals has proved more effective and responsive to Inuit concerns than any other form of management in Alaska", it was resolved, inter alia, to "support full Inuit involvement and control in management of renewable resources as the most effective way to recognize, protect and promote subsistence as a fundamental right of Inuit people".
A proposed resolution to Establish a Task Force to Address Marine Mammal Product Trade Barriers that, inter alia, called upon "appropriate governments to initiate a World Trade Organization [WTO] challenge to the provisions of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act [MMPA] that ban imports of seal products into the U.S." was not adopted. However, during the ICC General Assembly a panel on Renewable Resources and Trade Barriers tabled a report that recommended, inter alia, that ICC should work "with other organizations throughout the world to promote the principle of non-discrimination and to ensure that unilateral and/or extra-territorial trade restrictions continue to be rejected by the WTO" and that "ICC should work to protect Inuit hunting and self-management rights in Alaska and Russia while also working to remove barriers to Canadian and Greenlandic trade in marine mammal products".
Japan's new 720 ton vessel, Yushin Maru, was introduced to the public on October 15, 1998. This research vessl is the first new vessel in 26 years commissioned as a whale catcher. Fitted with the latest technology, the Yushin Maru will also be able to contribute to 'eco-harmonized whaling' a concept for a new era of whaling combined with resource and ecosystem monitoring. During the introduction ceremony, Mr. Takehiro Takeyama, President of Kyodo Senpaku Ltd., which owns the new vessel, said "there is strong public support in Japan for a resumption of whaling and not only the whaling industry, but all of Japan's fishing industries regard this vessel as a symbol of their hope to resume whaling". "Furthermore" he added, "future of whaling heavily depends on the understanding of sustainability of whale resources. Our future generation will inherit the benefit of whale resources under the management properly worked out by the IWC Scientific Committee; this vessel has facilities to provide accurate scientific data for the new 'eco-harmonized whaling'"
The new fisheries and wildlife management authority established in the Canadian Eastern Arctic (under the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement) has recently removed restrictive quotas placed on all narwhal hunting communities, and on two beluga hunting communities in southeast Baffin Island. These changes to the whaling regulations have been accepted by the federal Fisheries and Oceans Department.
In 1991, annual beluga quotas of 35 and 20 whales were imposed on Iqaluit and Kimmerut [formerly Lake Harbour] respectively. These quotas were imposed at a time when biologists believed that beluga hunted from three SE Baffin Island communities were from the same "stock". However, prompted by hunters' knowledge, it is now understood that these three communities hunt from different populations, and that beluga taken by Iqaluit and Kimmerut hunters have neither reduced nor depleted the whale populations they hunt. In fact, since being imposed in 1991, these quotas have only been reached in a single year, indicating that these restrictions are unnecessary and do not contribute to beluga conservation. Changes have been made to improve whaling management, by shifting responsibility from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to the local hunting communities. Each community Hunters' and Trappers' Organization [HTO] is now required to monitor the impacts of whale hunts upon the whales in their hunting areas, with a view to improving hunting statistics needed by the Board. Accurate data on all whales likely impacted by the hunt (as opposed to only those being landed) is now required. It is left to each HTO to decide and agree on how this improved reporting system is to operate.
In the case of narwhal, each community HTO will be responsible for developing by-laws to control hunting in their own areas. The by-laws will, e.g. specify hunting methods and possession limits. Narwhal populations are considered robust and hunted at sustainable levels in the Eastern Arctic.
Dr. Chesley Sanger [Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland A1C 5S7 Canada] has drawn our attention to a series of his articles which identify resource and environmental characteristics underlying European-based commercial northern whaling during the 17th-19th centuries, and which influenced the nature, scale, and scope of the fishery. The articles consider the two main North Atlantic stocks of Greenland right whale (bowhead whale) in the three main hunting grounds: East Greenland [Spitsbergen/Greenland sea ice-edge]; Davis Strait [Davis Strait ice-edge/Southwest and Disko grounds]; and Baffin Bay [Northwater/Pond Inlet/Lancaster Sound/East Baffin Island coastal fall fishery]. These studies are as follows:
"On good fishing ground but too early I think": The impact of Greenland right whale (bowhead) migration patterns on hunting strategies employed in the northern whale fishery during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The American Neptune 51(4):221-240 [1991];
"Changing resources and hunting locations of Scottish whaling-sealing vessels in the second half of the 19th century. The Scottish Geographical Magazine 107(3):187-197 [1991];
"Saw several finners but no whales":the Greenland right whale (bowhead) - an assessment of the biological basis of the northern whale fishery during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. International Journal of Maritime History 3(1):127-154 [1991];
Environmental factors affecting 17th-19th century whaling in the Greenland Sea. Polar Record 27(161):77-88 [1991];
"Dodging in the bight, a good place for a whale":environmental factors affecting 18th and 19th century whaling in Davis Strait. The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord 4(1):17-34 [1994];
"We are now in a splendid position for whales": environmental factors affecting 19th century whaling in Baffin Bay. The Mariners Mirror 80(2):159-177 [1994].
Despite an earlier paper (Bowen 1974) announcing the extinction of the western Pacific gray whale population, apparently this population still exists, with current estimates placing it around 250 animals (Bezin 1990, Vladimirov 1994). Some gray whales appear to summer in the Okhotsk Sea where they are being studied off Sakhalin Island by a joint U.S.- Russian team. Western grays were still hunted in the 1960s by Korea (Kato and Kasuya 1997) and perhaps also by the Soviet Union. It is not known where this population breeds, nor whether it is dependent upon coastal lagoons for calving (as is the case with the eastern Pacific gray whales). On the basis of past whaling records, it has been suggested breeding may occur along the coast of China (Henderson 1990) but there are no recent data to support this idea.
References:
Berzin, A.A., V.L.Vladimirov & N.V. Doroschenko 1990. Aerial surveys to determine the distribution and number of polar whales and beluga whales in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1985-1989. In: Berzin, A.A. (ed), Questions Relating to the Rational Exploitation of Marine Mammals in the Far Eastern Seas, pp.22-34. TINRO, Vladivostock, Vol. 112 [Environment Canada translation 4083779].
Bowen, S.L. 1974. Possible extinction of the Korean stock of the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Journal of Mammalogy 55:208-209.
Henderson, D.A. 1990. Gray whales and whalers on the China coast in 1869. Whalewatcher 24:14-14.
Kato, H. and T. Kasuya 1997. Catch history of the Asian stock of gray whales by modern whaling with some notes on migrations. Reports of the International Whaling Commission, Special Issue 17 (in press).
Vladimirov, V.L. 1994. Recent distribution and abundance level of whales in Russian far-eastern seas. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 20:1-9.
(Information from a September 14 1998 communication supplied to MARMAM internet subscribers by Phil Clapham (Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts).
Two recent incidents have been reported, off the N.E. U.S. coast, in which high-speed whalewatching boats have collided with whales. In these incidents a minke whale was killed and a humpback injured. According to the report, some marine conservationists are urging that the $24 million business should be better regulated, with boat captains forced to slow down in areas where whales feed. At the present time the speed at which boats can travel in the presence of whales remains unregulated in the U.S. The 120-foot catamaran struck a 2-year old humpback when travelling at about 21 mph. An 80-foot whalewatching boat struck an killed a 20-foot minke whale some days later.
Federal regulations require that whalewatching boats stay at least 100 feet (30 m) from whales and never approach them head-on. However, this is difficult as some of the boats in use can reach speeds of more than 40 mph. National regulation for whalewatching operators were proposed in the early 1990s, but many U.S. N.E-coast companies, backed by regional politicians in the U.S. Congress, rejected the idea saying they had adequate guidelines. The Stellwagen Bank whale watching area is a marine sanctuary, and it is proposed to start setting speed limits of 13 mph in this protected area, where fin, humpback and minke whales feed. Nearly half the whalewatching companies on the N. American continent operate in this area of the U.S. coast according to the New England Whale Watching Association. (From information posted on MARMAM, September 16, 1998). [Editor's Note: Setting regulations for the whalewatching industry was one of the five elements of the IWC Chairman's "Compromise" Proposal aimed to enable the IWC to progress in its stalled efforts to regulate whaling. Regulation of whalewatching was the first (and so-far, only) element of the proposal to be dropped; see INWR Digest No 15, "IWC holds 5Oth Annual Meeting"].
Alfonso, João 1997. Mar de baleias e de baleeiros. Angra de Heroismo, Azores: Direcção Regional da Cultura. 246 pp, color + b & w illus., cloth ISBN 972-647-158-3 [Published on the occasion of Expo '98 and the decennial of the whaling museum in Lajoos do Pico, Azores].
Augustinussen, Harry, Asbjørn Eriksen, Arne Hemmingsen, Harald Linchausen, Inger Olsen and Per Gunnar Olsen (eds), 1997. Skrova i Tekst og Bilder. Skrova: UL Vestfjord. 297 pp, illus. NOK 295.
Basberg, Bjørn L. Productivity in the 20th century Antarctic pelagic and shore station whaling. Growth and stagnation in two technological regimes. The Great Circle. Journal of the Australian Association for Maritime History 19(2):93-108.
Basberg, Bjørn L. 1998. The floating factory: dominant designs and technological development of twentieth-century whaling factory ships. The Northern Mariner//Le Marin du Nord 8(1):21-37.
Basberg, Bjørn L. 1998. Convergence or national styles? The Japanese challenge to the British-Norwegian hegemony in the twentieth-century whaling industry. Research in Maritime History 14:259-283.
Barthelmess, Klaus 1997. Die Fauth'sche Versuchsanlage auf der norwegischen Walfangstation Hestnes, 1938/39. Ein Beitrag zu den Autarkiebestrebungen im 'neuen deutschen Walfang'. Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv 20:357-372.
Bryn, Thorstein 1998. Vision, Colour, Form. The History of Jotun [whale oil factory and paint works]. Sandefjord: Jotun A/S. 352 S., Farb- & s/w illus. ISBN 82-994224-2-6. ca.NOK 290.
Burns, W.C.G. 1998. The agreement on the conservation of cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS): a regional response to the threats facing cetaceans. Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy 1(1):113-133.
Cawthorn, M.W. 1997. Meat consumption from stranded whales and marine mammals in New Zealand: public health and other issues. Conservation Science Notes 164, Department of Conservation, Wellington, N.Z. 23 pp.
Fletcher, Kristen 1998. The 49th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission: prelude to the next fifty years. Journal of International Law and Policy 1(1):134-142.
Freeman, Milton M.R., Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya, Richard A. Caulfield, Ingmar Egede, Igor I. Krupnik, Marc G. Stevenson 1998. Inuit Whaling, and Sustainability. 208 pp, illus., map, table, glossary, index. Walnut Creek, London, New Delhi: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7619-9062-3 (hc) $52.00; 0-7619-9063-1 (pb) $24.95.
Goldberg, Kim 1997/8. Canada and the International Whaling Commission. Canadian Marine Mammal Journal 3:3-7.
Ishikawa, Bon 1997. The Last Whale Hunters. Tokyo: Shinchocho. color illus. ISBN 4-10-419101-9 C 0072. ¥4700. [Fax order from: 81-3-3266-5111 [Indonesian whaling photos, with text in Japanese & English].
Jenkins, L. and C. Romanzo 1998. Makah whaling: aboriginal subsistence or a stepping stone to undermining the commercial whaling moratorium. Colorado Journal of International Law and Policy 9:71-114.
Kalland, Arne 1998. The anti-Japanese whaling campaigns and Japanese responses. In: Japanese Positions on Whaling and Anti-whaling Campaign, pp. 11-26. Tokyo: The Institute for Cetacean Research.
Kiem, Thai Van 1996. The cult of the whale. Vietnamese Studies 121:145-172.
Kojima, Kotaro (text) and Tomoko Egami (photos) 1997. Kujira to shounen no umi [Lamlera whaling, Indonesia]. Tokyo: Riron-sha. 190 pp., color illus. ISBN 4-652-01132 [Fax orders to: 81-33-203-5794]
Komatsu, Masayuki 1998. Whaling management: lessons for fisheries [at Public Hearing of Committee on Fisheries, European Parliament (Brussels) November 24-25, 1997]. In: Japanese Position on Whaling and Anti-whaling Campaign, pp. 5-10. Tokyo: The Institute of Cetacean Research.
Lieben, Ivan J. 1997. Political influences of USFWS [Fish and Wildlife Service] listing decisions and ESA [Endangered Species Act]: time to rethink priorities. Environmental Law 27(4):1323-1371.
Martin, Kenneth R. 1998. Heavy Weather and Hard Luck: Portsmouth Goes Whaling. illus. ISBN 0-915819-23-6. Portsmouth, NH.: Portsmouth Marine Society. US$30
Melnikov, V.V., M.A. Zlensky and V.V. Bychkov 1997. Seasonal migrations and distribution of bowhead whale in waters of Chukotka. Biologiia Moria 23(4):199-208 [In Russian, with English title and abstract].
Oelker, Jan 1997. Meerestierjäger auf der Tschuktschenhalbinsel. Kleine Belträge aus dem Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden 16:24-33.
Rafferty, A.E. and J.E. Zeh 1998. Estimating bowhead whale population size and rate of increase from the 1993 census. Journal of the American Statistical Association 93:451-463.
Romero, A., A.I. Agudo and S.M. Green 1997. Exploitation of cetaceans in Venezuela. Reports of the International Whaling Commission 47:735-746.
Shelden, K.E.W. 1998. The bowhead whale: a case study for the development for criteria for classification on the list of endangered and threatened wildlife. MMA dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle. 137 pp.
Simmonds, M. and C. Stroud 1998. Whither whaling? Nature 392 (6676):541.
Simpson, Karen 1998. The 50th meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy 1(2):284-297.
Suda, Shintaro 1995. Kujiragumi no matueitachi kujira o toro. Tokyo. 190 pp, b & w illus. ISBN 4-88135-209-1 C0039 [Baird's beaked whale hunting; Fax Order: 81-3-5467-0360]
Tornosov, D.D., Y.A. Mikhaliev, P.B. Best, V.A. Zemsky, K. Sekiguchi, and R.L. Brownell 1998. Soviet catches of southern right whales Eubalaena australis 1951-71. Biological data and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 86:185-197.
Tynan, Cynthia T. and Douglas P. DeMaster 1997. Incorporating climate change effects into the process for evaluating management regimes for aboriginal subsistence whaling. Reports of the International Whaling Commission 47:619-624.
Østevik, Tore 1998. Snipp, Snapp, Snute... Beretning om Livet om Bord i Hvalbåtene fra Vestfold på Fangstfeltene i Sydishavet. Tønsberg: Færder Forlag. 119 pp, illus. ISBN 82-7911-010-0. NOK 260.
23rd Annual Whaling History Symposium was held October 17-18 1998 at the Kendall Whaling Museum, Sharon, Massachusetts, USA. Speakers and topics included: "Spitsbergen whaling and walrus-hunting stations in interaction with the natural environment", Louwrens Hacquebord (Netherlands); "Voyage of the Pocahontas, 1832-36:whaling out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the evolution of a whaling crew", Kenneth R. Martin (USA); "French whalers in New Zealand water", J. Thierry Du Pasquier (France); "Report on the Myrick Scrimshaw conference", Donald E. Ridley (USA); "Harpoons", Robert Hellman (USA); "Spitsbergen: archaeology of 17th century Dutch whaling sites", Louwrens Hacquebord (Netherlands); South Georgia: the Norwegian industrial archaeology project on 20th century whaling sites", Bjørn L. Basberg (Norway). Contact: Kendall Whaling Museum, P.O. Box 297, Sharon, MA 02067, USA. [Tel:1-781-748-5642].
Arctic Seas Symposium: Currents of Change. A symposium to mark the International Year of the Ocean was held October 21-24 1998, hosted by the Mystic Aquarium and under the auspices of UNESCO and UNEP. The symposium aimed to highlight current understanding of the Arctic marine environment and the nature and consequences of changes taking place. Plenary sessions of a multidisciplinary character discussed Climate, Ice and Ocean, The Role of Science in the North, Productivity, Ecology of Marine Mammals and Birds, Contaminants, Development and Human Resources. Contact: David J. St. Aubin (dstaubin@mysticaquarium.org) or Gayle Sirpenski (gsirpenski@mysticaquarium.org) at fax 1-860-572-5969.
Beaufort Sea Conference 2000: Renewable Resources for our Children. To be held in Inuvik, N.W.T. Canada, September 15-18 1999. A conference to review current understanding of the renewable resources of the Beaufort Sea, factors impacting those resources, and a vision of the future that will help manage the resources for present and future generations. Resources considered will include whales, seals, polar bear, fish and sea birds and their environments. Contact: Camille Campbell, Freshwater Institute, 501 University Crescent , Winnipeg R2M 2X3 Canada, e-mail campbellc@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Visit the INWR website at: http://www.ualberta.ca/~inwr/
| Editor: | Associate Editors: | |||
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Milton Freeman Canadian Circumpolar Institute University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 0H1 Tel: 1-780-492-4682 Fax: 1-403-492-5273 milton.freeman@ualberta.ca |
Klaus Barthelmess Whaling Research Project PO Box 620255 50695 Cologne, GERMANY Tel: 49-221-7408396 Fax: 49-221-747342 barthval@gmx.de |
Louwrens Hacqueboard Arctic Centre University of Groningen PO Box 716 9700 AS Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS Tel: 31-50-363-6834 Fax: 31-50-363-490 hacqubr@let.rug.nl |
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