Whales~~~~~

previous whale news             subsequent whale news                      home

February 3, 2001

NMFS PROMOTED MAKAH RELIGION
I think our community should take seriously the fact that at the NMFS (National Marine and Fisheries Service) EA hearing in Seattle last night, the Makah "Governmental Delegation" was allowed a half-hour presentation in addition to the tribe's three minute >per person allotment. Of course, we non-Makah had their three minutes, period.

Setting the tone of that presentation, NMFS allowed the public hearing to begin with a religious Makah prayer song. The NMFS obviously had arranged this ahead of time and (Joe Scodino, et. al) stood with bowed heads. Though highly respectful of others' religious beliefs, I (and about one-third of the audience) remained seated, feeling that a particular religious point of view attached to whaling was being forced upon us by a federal government >that was giving unequal consideration to one religion over everyone else's.

>Taking the spiritual high ground is everyone's right as an individual. When  one's own government stands and bows their head for a religious ceremony that has been given special privilege, it is demeaning - no, more than that: it is a public, governmental acknowledgement of one spiritual belief over many others, including mine. That at a hearing court-ordered for bias in the first place.

For many of us, our work is also a direct expression of our spiritual
beliefs. NMFS, on February 1, knowingly and willingly acknowledged one set of beliefs over others. It is the epitome of being made to feel like a second class citizen and is yet another example of the federal bias in this issue.

Tactically, it gives the Makah an upper-handed presence. If anyone else
felt this way, include it in your comments, call your federal representatives and senators. Call me sensitive, but this felt like a personal attack by NMFS belittling my beliefs.

All the best, Will Anderson, veganverde@home.com

January 29, 2001

Encouraging news on right whales.  Last year only one baby right whale was spotted in the wintering area off Florida and Georgia.  So far this year, there have been 14.  This doesn't mean they are out of danger of extinction, but it is encouraging news.  Scientists don't know whether the low reproduction of that past five years has been due to low food supply or some sort of biotoxins.

January 24, 2001

Norwegian official warns Japan of likely contamination of whale blubber with PCBs.  Kristen Farden of Norway's State Food Control Authority warned Japan that the whale blubber Norway expects to export to Japan could contain high levels of contamination with toxins.  She recommended not eating much blubber until the results of tests to determine the level of contamination were known.

January 18, 2001                                                         

Norway resumes international trade in whale flesh.

Norway has justified its decision to resume international trade in whale parts under the guise of letting the Japanese buy the blubber that Norwegians don't eat and the sustainable use of a natural resource.  It plans to export flesh as well as blubber, presumably to any country

where someone is willing to pay for it.

Norway intends to confine the trade to minke whales who are listed on Appendix one of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.  Even though the species is not presently endangered, trade is still illegal to help protect other cetacean species that are critically endangered.  Killing whales defies the moratorium against all but indigenous whaling for human sustenance agreed upon by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.  Norway has been killing whales for domestic consumption since 1993 and has applied for an exception to the CITES ruling.

The worst aspect of Norway's action is that it is likely to open a worldwide market for pirate whaling of all cetacean species no matter how endangered.  While it is true that DNA testing can identify the species from which a piece of flesh was taken, there is no mechanism in place to identify the species included in each shipment of whale parts.  Curious scientists have already found blue whale flesh in lots offered for sale in Japan in spite of Japanese claims they were killing only minke whales for scientific purposes.  (Japan has more recently added endangered sperm and Bryde's whales to this "scientific" slaughter which winds up in expensive Japanese restaurants.) 

The question now is whether the leading anti-whaling nations will stop talking about sanctions and impose them.  Australia has been strong but has not received strong support from other nations like Britain and the United States. The latter has become a whaling nation because the Clinton/Gore administration inexplicably honored the Japanese-abetted claim of the Makah Tribe that it had a right to resume whaling for traditional reasons.

Captain Paul Watson, President of the Sea Shepherd Society, the organization that scuttled a Norwegian whaler and disabled other whaling vessels in Iceland and Spain, had the following comment:  "There should be no more negotiations, meetings, warnings or pleadings.  The last eight years have conclusively demonstrated that such tactics do nothing but make the situation worse.  Norway is saying 'I dare you' to the Bush Administration.  With any luck, they have finally supplied the rope with which to hang themselves."  Time will tell

previous whale news           subsequent whale news