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February 7, 1998 more recent whale news home page

AMERICA GETS READY TO KILL WHALES

relayed from February 3rd message from Breach Marine Protection

See http://www.members.aol.com/breachenv/home.htm

In a massive breach of faith with the American people, the Clinton Administration, in defiance of its own laws and the wishes of the vast majority of its citizens, wants to allow whaling in US waters. If the US authorities get their way, for the first time in over 30 years, mainland US citizens will slaughter whales.

As the Makah Tribe of Washington State gear up to slaughter whales, practicing in the waters of Neah Bay with huge guns - artillery big enough to sink a destroyer - the future of the world's whale species is on the line. If the Makah succeed in their efforts to claim treaty rights to kill whales - an action which is illegal for all US citizens - coastal whaling will break out world-wide under the guise of 'cultural' or 'indigenous' whaling.

Lack of any adequate media coverage in most of the US makes it difficult for the average American citizen to have any notion that the the Government is not only working hard to allow whales to be killed within its national waters - the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary to be precise - but is spending big money to help the Makah start killing.

In a remarkable display of double standards, the Clinton Administration voted last year ro ensure the California gray whale remain on Appendix 1 ("endangered") of the CITES Treaty. Inclusion in this Appendix effectively prohibits any whaling anywhere in the world. Yet, the US Government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to allow the killing of the same whale in US waters. The only legal hindrance to the Makah beginning their grisly kill is a lawsuit filed in Washington DC on October 17, 1997.

Already the issues raised in the lawsuit are becoming so critical that the case has the potential to set vitally important precedents in the struggle to protect the global environment. The Makah issue raises major questions about all our futures.

The following newsletter is an attempt to overcome the information gap. If you care about whales, please take the time to photocopy this. It may be the only way the public can be alerted:

The purpose of this newsletter is to let you know some of the facts surrounding the efforts of a native American Indian tribe, the Makah, to gain a quota to kill California gray whales. In the deliberately created confusion which surrounds this issue, and the lack of objective media coverage, it's difficult for people to know the truth. Yet there has never been a more important time for the whales. The clock is about to be turned back.

Desperate to control the resources of the world's oceans, Japan is supporting and funding the push to open up 'cultural' or 'indigenous' whaling. Japanese interests have backed the Makah effort all the way. In Japanese schools, despite increasing health risks, children are now given free whale meat as the Government and vested interests attempt to influence Japanese eating habits and counter external and internal pressure to stop killing whales.

A legal challenge has been mounted against the US Government's blatant, and allegedly illegal, attempts to grant the Makah a quota of gray whales - in spite of strong domestic legislation which bans all US citizens from whaling. The legal challenge was formulated and initiated by a coalition of two non-US organisations: Breach Marine Protection (BMP) in Britain and Australians for Animals (AFA), working closely with a firm of US Public Interest lawyers, Schubert, Meyer and Glitzenstein of Washington DC.

At the International Whaling commission (IWC) meeting in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1996, the US Government was forced to withdraw its attempts to obtain a quota for the Makah from the IWC because of opposition within Congress and by other IWC member countries. During that meeting, it was realised that a number of legal challenges against the Makah attempts to gain a quota were possible under US domestic legislation. After many hundreds of hours of work in the ensuing months, the lawsuit was filed just prior to the IWC meeting in Monaco in October 1997. By this time, the lawsuit's plaintiffs had been joined by a number of concerned US citizens and whalewatching companies with an interest in the plight of the California gray whale. However, to date only two US groups, Cetacean Society International in Connecticut and the Great Whales Foundation in California have made donations to the lawsuit.

Lawsuits don't come cheap and this one is no exception. Lawyers representing the Makah have applied to the Washington Court to assist the US authorities' defense by joining the lawsuit on the US side. A great deal of work needs to be undertaken prior to the impending fight in the courts. In belief that many in the global community may want to raise their hands and donate funds to help the gray whale, both BMP and AFA are anxious to find financial support from American and international citizens. We think the time is now to solicit the general public's help in this David and Goliath battle to save these highly intelligent, social, magnificent creatures who are by nature, trusting and responsive to human kind.

At a time when Breach Marine Protection's inspired World-Wide Petition in support of the "Popular (Peoples') Resolution on Abolition of Inhumane Commercial Slaughter of Whales" designed to stop whale slaughter has been signed by well over 10 million people, the moral injunction on governments to listen has never been greater. If whaling breaks out wearing the cloak of native rights, 'cultural', 'indigenous' or under whatever guise, whales who travel up and down any coastline will become targets. Japan and Norway have tried for years to persuade the IWC that their coastal populations are "indigenous". Furthermore, in May this year, the IWC at its meeting in Oman this spring will consider an Irish 'initiative', also a recipe for disaster for the great whales.

THE DEAL AT MONACO

Many of you have been told that at IWC, Monaco, the Australian Government's delegation managed to hold up the Makah quota by insisting it be recognized as genuine aboriginal subsistence whaling.

IWC report from Congressman Jack Metcalf (3rd item on page)

In reality, this delegation put forward a schedule amendment which deleted some critical words - words that insisted any aboriginal subsistence quota be recognized by the IWC. Words that would have prevented the US seeking a quota for the Makah at IWC. There's no way a tribe which hasn't whaled for 70 plus years and lives in one of the richest countries in the world can be compared with a genuine subsistence community. The IWC strict definition of aboriginal subsistence whaling could not be applicable to the Makah under any circumstances.

Authorities and people who seek to persuade American citizens and the Global Community that the Makah have not obtained the go-ahead to kill whales are misleading you. If the Clinton Administration succeeds with the Makah, there will be no stopping the outbreak of cetacean killing world-wide. Already over a dozen tribes are lined up in Canada waiting to see how the Makah fare. In New Zealand, Maoris are considering whaling. A case before the Federal Court in Australia involving native title rights over the coastal seas is currently being heard. Australia, for example, has a barely recovering population of humpback whales who migrate up and down its eastern coastline, whales who could readily become targets of a recommencement of whaling. This scenario will be repeated world-wide.

The only thing standing in the way of the Makah slaughter and a global precedent being set is the Breach Marine Protection/Australians for Animals legal challenge.

BOATS WON'T STOP THE MAKAH (As of Nov 25/98 they have.)

Some groups are vowing to take out protest boats to impede the Makah in their attempts to kill whales. This is a great idea but probably a waste of time. It will certainly be too late to stop the precedent which will have already been created. At the Canadian seal hunt, government authorities passed laws to prevent not only boats, but also aeroplanes flying over the killing fields. We can expect much the same level of protection by the US government for the slaughter of whales.

Legally, the US government is way out of line. Not only has the government failed to undertake a prior environmental impact study, but also a five-year monitoring program required under the Endangered Species Act is still 18 months away from completion. Other legal challenges are also possible to stop the Makah going killing. Those of you who donate funds to other environmental marine conservation groups may well ask why they are not using the legal system to its fullest extent.

THE SAD STATISTICS OF GRAY WHALES home

The majority of California gray whales killed on their migratory route by the Russian people (to feed to foxes on fur farms) are female: pregnant females or females with young calves. Why? Because it's easier to prey on a creature trying to protect her young. That's a sordid fact of life. Statistics kept by Russian scientists show the kill rate is two females to one male as it has been for the past 20 years. In recent years much of the slaughter has been focused on young whales, juveniles who have not yet reached maturity.

It's difficult to estimate how any species could come out on top with this cornucopia of threats and high mortalities. No effort has been made to identify resident whales from migratory whales; the idea of killing a whale who has made its home along the coastline of Neah Bay is difficult to accept No work has been done on the effects this killing would have on resident populations. The irony of the situation is that the California gray whale is a creature whose flesh is almost inedible for humans and only eaten in times of extreme hunger. The meat is also severely affected by toxic pollution. The flesh of a gray whale killed accidentally last year in Neah Bay still lies frozen in Makah

(Continued on page 36)