Unwarranted Whaling: The Makah and the Grey Whale

1. Unwarranted Whaling: The Makah and the Grey Whale Andrew Gygli, Casey Kristofferson, and RhiannaHohbein

2. Arguments Against the Makah Whaling • Questionable Legality • Ecological Issues • Food • Migration • Western Population • International vs. Domestic Law • Social Strife • An Alternative Solution

3. Questionable Legality The Makah cannot meet the IWC’s conditions for an Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling quota

4. Some More Background Information • US a signatory of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (1946) • ICRW established International Whaling Commission (IWC) • IWC imposed a complete ban against the taking of grey whales • Two exceptions: • Research • Aboriginal Whaling (NOAA)

5. Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas • Aborigines must petition IWC for an ASW • Strict set of guidelines for the granting of an ASW • Definition of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling: • “Whaling for purposes of local aboriginal, indigenous, or native peoples who share strong community, familial, social, and cultural ties related to a continuing traditional dependence on whaling and on the use of whales.” (Gambell 1993)

6. Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas Continued • Purpose: to ensure that aboriginal peoples will have access to enough whale meat to satisfy cultural and nutritional requirements (Gambell1993) • Low level of ASWs granted historically • ASWs granted strictly to those communities that demonstrate BOTH: • A cultural need • A nutritional need • Example: Alaskan Eskimos and the • bowhead whale (Jenkins & Romanzo 1998)

7. Makah and the Nutritional Need Requirement Last reported Makah hunt of the grey whale: 1915 (Lindemann 1988) 84 years without whale meat Clearly able to meet nutritional requirements without whales Not engaging in opportunistic hunts Conclusion: The Makah do not have a nutritional requirement to hunt the grey whale.

8. Makah and the Cultural Need Requirement Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling definition: “continuing traditional dependence…” Makah voluntarily gave up the hunt (Peterson 1996) Recreated an long-extinguished lifestyle Required training from outside the tribe in whaling practices (Reeves 2002) Conclusion: The Makah do not have a cultural requirement to hunt the grey whale.

9. Consequences of Softening the ASW Interpretation Granting an ASW to the Makah creates a double standard within the IWC Sets a precedent for cultural heritage as only requirement Undermine the moratorium on grey whale hunting (Jenkins & Romanzo 1998)

10. Ecology-Food Distribution Gray Whale is primarily a bottom-feeder Invertebrates—majority of diet Climatic fluctuations—changing prey ranges Thought to be cause of 1999-2000 decline Uncertainty may lead to bad management (Swart et al. 2006) (Eilperin 2007) (Moore 2008)

11. Ecology-Migration Climate change affecting Migration from Northern latitudes to South Summer in North, Winter in South Warm northern temperatures=overwintering Behavior reduces calf survival rate (Swart et al. 2006) (CGWC 2009)

12. (Anderson 2003)

13. Ecology-Western Population There are 2 populations, one in East (the Makah population) and one in the West Western pop. is endangered, considered separate DPS Lang et al. study Limited gene flow may be imperative Eastern pop. could supplement the western (Lang et al. 2011)

14. (Swartz et al. 2006)

15. Social Strife • Sovereign right vs. “senseless killing” (Cantzler 2007) • Arrests, assaults, protests, terrible TV shows. . . (Cantzler 2007 & Mapes 2007) • “Save a whale, hunt a Makah” (Marker 2006)

16. International vs. Domestic “A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty. This rule is without prejudice to article 46 (UN 1969).” Prior treaties must abide by current agreements (UN 1969 & Roghair 2005) However, the US has an obligation to the Makah. What other options do we have?

17. Ecotourism • Allows the Makah to retain their ties to the grey whale with a minimal ecological impact • $1.25 billion/year in the US alone • Already used in some parts of Alaska & Canada • http://www.aboriginaljourneys.com/whale_watching_campbell_river.html

18. In Conclusion Questionable right to an ASW Serious ecological consequences Cause of social anxieties Other avenues to compensate Makah

19. Works Cited Anderson, G. 2003. Migration of gray whale. Marine Science, Santa Barbara, CA. Available http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/05nekton/GWmigration.htm(accessed 11/29/11) California Gray Whale Coalition (CGWC). 2009. US government mismanagement. Australians for Animals, Brunswick Heads, NSW. Cantzler, J.M. 2007. Environmental justice and social power rhetoric in the moral battle over whaling. Sociological Inquiry 77:483-512. Eilperin, J. 2007. Warming may be hurting whales’ recovery. The Washington Post, Washington D.C. Available from http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/ (Accessed October 20 2011) Gambell, Ray. 1993. International management of whales and whaling: An historical review of the regulation of commercial and aboriginal whaling. Arctic 46: 101 – 104. Jenkins, Leesteffy, and Cara 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. Lang A.R. and D.W. Weller, R. LeDuc, A.M. Burdin, R.L. Brownell, Jr. Genetic differentiation between western and eastern (Eschrichtiusrobustus) gray whale populations using microsatellite markers. 2011. SC/62/BRG11(email pending)

20. Works Cited Continued Lindemann, Jeffrey D. 1998. Dilemma of the International Whaling Commission: The loophole provisions of the commissions vs. the world conscience. Journal of International Law and Practice 7: 494 – 497. Mapes, L.V. 2007. Five Makah whalers charged. The Seattle Times. Accessed from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/ 2003926767_whale05m.html> Moore, Sue E. 2008. Marine mammals as ecosystem sentinels. Journal of Mammalogy 89, no. 3: 534-540 NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Chronology of major events related to Makah tribal whale hunt. NOAA, Boulder, Colorado. Available from http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Gray-Whales/loader.cfm?url=/ commonspot/security/getfile. cfm&pageid=23372 (accessed October 2011). Neves, K. 2010. Cashing in on ecotourism: a critical ecological engagement with dominant E-NGO discourses on whaling, cetacean conservation, and whale watching. Antipode 42:719-741.

21. Works Cited Continued North Pacific Ocean (NPO). 2008. Bering Sea. NOAA, Annapolis, MD. Available from http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/np/pages/seas/npmap1.html (Accessed October 25 2011) Peterson, Brenda. 1996. Who will speak for the whales? – Elders call for a spiritual dialogue on Makah tribe’s whaling proposal. The Seattle Times. Reeves, Randall R. 2002. The origins and character of ‘aboriginal subsistence whaling’: A global review. Mammal Review 32: 93 –94. Swartz, S.L., B.L. Taylor, and D.J. Rugh. 2006. Gray whale Eschrichtiusrobustus population and stock identity. Mammal Review 36, no. 1: 66-84. United Nations. 1969. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Treaty Series. 1155: 331.