Official newsletter of the WCW
#3 August 1998
Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission Joins WCW
Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council Continues to Support WCW
International Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources Joins WCW
WCW Resolution Read into US Congressional Record
Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission Joins WCW
The World Council of Whalers is pleased to announce that the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission of New Zealand has joined as a sustaining member. Their recognition of WCW's concern for the rights of indigenous people of the South Pacific who traditionally have used stranded whales as well as those who hunted whales is gratifying.
The Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission was established in 1992 as a result of a full and final settlement of all commercial marine fisheries claims in New Zealand. Its primary function is to facilitate the entry of Maori into the business and activity of fishing.
A whale-stranding framework was recently developed between the Ngati Wai tribe and the New Zealand Department of Conservation outlining what will occur when whales strand in a tribal territory, who has control, what role the scientists will play, etc.
We would like to express a special acknowledgement to Te Atawhai Taiaroa and Sean Kerins for their hard work in bringing the WCW message to the South Pacific. Membership of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission in WCW acknowledges the WCW's goal of bringing aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities together to address their mutual concerns.
Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council Continues to Support WCW
A Canadian tribal group has also indicated their belief in the value of membership in the World Council of Whalers. The Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council (NTC) of Vancouver Island have joined WCW as an organizational member. This is continued support as WCW was provided office space and clerical support by the Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council at their headquarters in Port Alberni in WCW's first year of existence. Though our office has moved to Brentwood Bay, we still receive support from NTC. Kleco, Kleco to the NTC and the Nuu chah nulth chiefs.
International Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources Joins WCW
We are pleased to welcome IFCNR as a member of WCW. Those of you that attended our General Assembly will remember the president of IFCNR, Steve Boynton. Steve, an attorney, has been involved in sustainable use issues for many years and was a great help during the drafting of the WCW resolutions and ultimately the introduction of the WCW resolution into the US Congressional Record.
WCW Resolution Read into US Congressional Record
US Congressman Richard Pombo read the WCW General Assembly Resolution into the Congressional Record on June 11,1998. WCW believes this is very significant because the US is one of the IWC member States that continually comes to the IWC forum with a "no whaling" position. We thank Congressman Pombo for his strength and courage to introduce such a controversial resolution into the Congressional record of an anti-whaling nation. Mind you, Congressman Pombo is not new to sustainable resource issues as he represented the US Congress at the CITES Conference held in Zimbabwe in June 1997.
The Makah have provided a fact sheet and would like it distributed widely. Because of the intense pressure by eco-terrorists and misguided politicians we must be clear that they are not affiliated with WCW but WCW and many others support them wholeheartedly.
Whalers around the world who have been forced into isolation need to know they are NOT alone. We will be posting the fact sheet on our website. Anyone that is without Internet access and would like one let us know and we'll fax or mail it.
Inuit whalers of Baffin Island in Canada's Eastern Arctic successfully landed a 13-metre bowhead whale in Cumberland Sound on July 21 using a harpoon and shoulder gun. It was the first bowhead taken in 53 years from the Davis Strait/Baffin Bay stock which is distinct from the stock from which the Inuit took a bowhead in 1996.
Scientists at Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which must OK the natives' Nunavut Wildlife Management Board's decisions regarding whaling, had agreed that taking a single bowhead from the stock heavily reduced by commercial whalers many years ago would not "compromise conservation requirements." The IWC estimates the stock to have only 350 animals.
Meat and maktak are to be distributed widely throughout the Inuit homeland of Nunavut. WCW shares with the whalers of Nunavut their elation in successfully reviving their whaling tradition. Congratulations!