Official newsletter of the WCW
#6 June 1999
Save the Whales (for the Makah)
WCW Position Paper on Caribbean Whaling at IWC, May 1999
Recommended Reading: "Flouting the Convention"
Participants from twenty-one nations including government officials, legal experts and representatives of whaling societies met in Reykjavik, Iceland March 27-30 for the second General Assembly of the World Council of Whalers.
The assembly heard a welcoming address from Iceland's Foreign Minister, Hon. Halldor Asgrimsson and a videotaped message from United States Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA). Both stressed the importance of applying sustainable management techniques to marine resources, preserving cultural identities and bringing the true story of whales and whalers to the public.
The Fisheries Minister of the Faroe Islands, Hon. Jorgen Niclasen, and the chairman of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, Mr. Arnor Halldorsson, spoke of the importance of rational whale management for the protection of marine biodiversity and the future of the fishing industry.
Information was shared on whaling and whale use in Canada, four Caribbean nations, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Russia and Tonga. Expert panels discussed whaling management, trade issues, and communication.
Five resolutions adopted by consensus targeted the desperate plight of Russian Chukotkan whaling communities, diet-related health problems in Tonga, the Eastern Canadian Arctic bowhead hunt, Iceland's March 1999 parliamentary resolution to resume whaling, and trade problems related to the US Marine Mammal Protection Act.
"With the world's whale populations steadily increasing, the world's endangered whaling cultures will survive," stated WCW chairman Chief Tom Mexsis Happynook.
"Foremost among the world's issues for the coming millennium is the ability to feed a growing human population while maintaining biodiversity on Planet Earth. We must feed our people and preserve our cultures within the framework of sustainable use of nature's resources. Whaling is an important part of both."
A number of participants at previous WCW meetings who were unable to attend the Iceland meeting were sincerely missed. There were, however, a great many new voices heard in Reykjavik and firm declarations of interest in the World Council of Whalers' goals.
Dressed in their traditional robes, five Ainu, Japanese aboriginals, traveled from the island of Hokkaido with Dr. Masami Iwasaki-Goodman to declare their interest in revitalizing their cultural traditions of whale utilization. One evening they performed a traditional dance depicting an old woman dispersing the seagulls when she found a drift whale on the beach. The Ainu have subsequently joined the World Council of Whalers.
Three whale hunters from widely separated parts of the Canadian Arctic were seen. Billy Day of the Inuvialuit Game Council in Inuvik in the Western Arctic (and also a WCW board member) swapped stories with Lucassie Arragutainaq, Executive Director of the Hunters and Trappers Association in the Hudson's Bay region and Jooeelee Papatsie of Pangnirtung on Baffin Island. Papatsie's report to the assembly told of the value of traditional knowledge and the hunters' familiarity with water depths in the historic bowhead hunting area of Cumberland Sound when the first bowhead hunt in fifty years was successfully undertaken in 1998.
The assembly listened with concerned attention as Ms. Tatyana Achirgina, Chairman of the Eskimo Cultural Center Kiyagnik kn Anadyr, Russia, told of the extreme hardship being endured by people on the Chukotka Peninsula. It is the marine mammal hunters who are saving the people from starvation, she said. They desperately need equipment and supplies but the government program of support has been destroyed. The best form of assistance, she said, would be that which enabled the Chukotkans to return to eating healthy local foods. "Our only hope is to go back to our traditional subsistence." Extensive discussion of possible ways of helping followed her presentation.
The spirit of mutual support and friendship among the whaling cultures represented at the Iceland meeting was most clearly visible when, on a field trip to the inactive whaling station on Hafnafjordur, people from seven countries spontaneously joined hands in a circle and danced a Faeroese folk dance.
Chairman Happynook's opening remarks which expressed appreciation to the Icelandic people, their parliament and their government for hosting the WCW General Assembly were seconded by all participants as they prepared to leave Reykjavik. And Iceland's whalers were heartily wished "Good Luck!"
We would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome the following new member organizations to the WCW:
- Indigenous Survival International, Greenland
- Ainu Traditional Whaling Association, Japan
- Minke Whalers' Association, Iceland.
- Hvalur H.F., Iceland
- Norwegian Whalers' Union
In addition, the WCW gratefully acknowledges the growing number of individuals who have signed on as individual members. As our membership grows, the strength of our unified voice as whaling peoples grows. Together, we ensure that this voice is heard. As organizations and individuals who have committed to the unity of this voice, you have ensured that it will become even stronger.
Thank you for your support. Welcome.
Save the Whales (for the Makah)
By David Hicks
"Leave us to our whale, and we will leave you to your McDonald's and pork chops"
(Message to anti-whaling protestors from speaker at the Makah Potlatch)
In the presence of over 2000 guests, the Makah people of Neah Bay, Washington celebrated their successful hunt of a gray whale, the first taken in over 70 years. Amidst the drums and songs of their neighbouring tribes in Washington State and the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples of Vancouver Island and in the presence of the 7 whalers and their traditional cedar canoe "Hummingbird", the Makah and their guests sat down to a traditional feast of blubber and whale meat. As the crowd of young, old, native and non-native people eagerly lined up for second and third helpings, the successful whalers looked on with a pride only their grandfathers had known. With a single thrust of a harpoon, and two quick shots of a rifle, an entire community had been fed.
The celebration lasted through the night, and into the dawn of the following day. Throughout the proceedings, respect was paid to the spirit of the whale which had so willingly given itself to the hunters; of all the guests present, the whale was the most honoured. As the celebration continued, time and again its presence was acknowledged: speakers made mention of the fact that "the whale's spirit is here, among us, watching and listening ... it is happy". Elders and chiefs spoke of the tradition that was once again come to life, and paid respect to the whalers for their poise, grace and focus in the face of extremely hostile opposition. Of the Makah Whaling Commission, one speaker noted: "You were 13 against the world, and you won".
Yet on a level beyond the collective joy of a community in celebration, beyond the sense that the successful hunt was not only a victory for the Makah, but also a victory for whaling peoples everywhere, was a deeper realization. Here, on this tiny reservation at the very tip of the continental United States, the waves of protestors, hordes of media, helicopters, and boats which had daily assailed the Makah came up against something they hadn't expected to find: Pride. It permeated the atmosphere of the celebration hall; it was evident in the community. Children proudly wore buttons that read "my grandfather was a whaler". Here, where protestors and media expected to find desperate natives grasping for esteem, they instead found a proud whaling people, confidently asserting their ancestral rights. The relentless barrage of protest only served to magnify this pride; in the end, it seems to have made the Makah even stronger. As they celebrated the success of the hunt, the Makah served notice to the world that they are whalers, and intend to stay that way.
Heading home along the lonely highway that connects Neah Bay to the outside world, full on whale meat, and best wishes for the next hunt, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the lonely boat of the protestors sitting at anchor as we passed. In contrast to the joy and pride of a community united, this black boat seemed so alone; its blackness, meant to intimidate, invoked instead something approaching pity. They were a defeated people on that boat, desperately grasping for esteem in the face of failure. For all their clever words and bold declarations, in the end they turned out to be no match for the power of tradition, and the collective pride of a people not clinging to the past, but instead asserting their right to the present.
As they no doubt argued in their cramped quarters about what went wrong, and their future now that their game was lost and the cameras gone, just around the bend the Makah came together as a people, as a whaling people, to celebrate what went right, and the promise of a brighter future; a future that is once again theirs to shape.
WCW Position Paper on Caribbean Whaling at IWC, May 1999
Reinvigoration of domestic cetacean fisheries throughout the Caribbean would benefit the Caribbean people in a number of ways:
1. Health
Sea mammal oil is rich in Omega 3 (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and anti-oxidants. Both are essential for long-term health. Sea mammal oil combats many illnesses long absent in coastal communities around the world until the introduction of processed foods as replacements for sea mammal consumption: High Cholesterol, Diabetes, Arthritis, Rheumatism.
For generations, natural food from sea mammals reduced risk of Heart Disease, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease. While fish oils are also important to health, the human body needs to break down the composition of the fish oil to be absorbed. Sea mammal oil is absorbed fully almost immediately.
2. Cultural Benefits
Caribbean communities would again play a major role in management of their cetacean resources. Customary trading between Caribbean Islands would be stimulated. Cetacean fisheries traditionally require community participation and interaction.
In a very practical way, local cetacean fisheries provide renewable and ready protein sources accessible in the event of natural tragedies such as hurricanes. Agricultural areas can be wiped out under such circumstances. Food shortages are the greatest source of popular instability and poverty. Domestic cetacean fisheries strengthens community ties to the sea and reconnects the Caribbean people to their roots as seafaring folk.
3. Economically
By providing extremely nutritional natural food from a local source (the sea), a cetacean fishery would cut the tens of millions of dollars now spent on imported, processed foods. These savings could be kept in country and used to benefit the people in numerous ways healthcare, education, road repair, etc.
By providing seasonal jobs and income. Again, the decreased dependence on expensive imported foods multiplies the revenue benefits of this domestic fishery. Using nature's resources is how every developed nation gained wealth. The mistakes of the past will not be repeated. Today, emerging African nations understand the role of sustainable use of natural resources within the quest for modern development.
By providing increased health from increased consumption of natural foods. This increases productivity of the labor force. Increased health also means less dependence on imported healthcare medicines, etc.
By taking some economic pressure from the stress tourism brings (sport fishing, for example) to sea resources. Many of these resources are decreasing. The whale populations, however, are increasing. For, example, in the mid 1980's the Caribbean humpback whale population was put at roughly 5000 whales. Caribbean whaling cultures had an IWC quota of 3. In 1993, that quota was reduced to 2, yet the whale population was increasing and is now estimated at 10,600.
Whaling in Bequia
By Kerwyn Morris, WCW Executive Board
Caribbean culture may best be described as Creole and is a sort of synthesis of cultures from colonists from Europe, slaves from West Africa and indentured labourers from Asia and part of Europe such as Spain and Portugal. All these groups adapted their original cultures to the Caribbean region and helped shape the Caribbean culture.
In the specific case of Bequia, western Europeans did not arrive there until the end of the 17C when they introduced African slaves and established sugar plantations. With colonization and foreign culture developed a new domestic culture. This new culture included hunting both small and large cetaceans for their meat and oil.
Whaling techniques were introduced to Bequia over a century ago (1875) by American whaling vessels and is now firmly established as a cultural activity among the inhabitants of the island. It reached a peak around 1910 when about 100 men were involved in catching and processing the humpback whale.
The season begins in early February when the whales migrate southward to their breeding grounds and can be seen between the islands of Bequia and Mustique. At the commencement of the season an Anglican priest blesses the whaling boat and asks God's protection for the crew and success for the catch. The season continues until early May when the whales move back northwards.
A total of six crew members and one lookout are engaged in whaling and only one whaling boat has been in use since 1990. Between 1984 and 1986 a total of twelve crewmen and two whaling boats were engaged for those years.
There is no wage system in the industry but rather a "share system". The meat is processed at the whaling station which is a small uninhabited island in the Grenadines known as Petit Nevis. The meat is distributed among the boat owner, the six crew members and the "lookout". The meat is sorted into heaps and each heap is allocated according to the following order: harpooner, bow oarsman, midshipman, boat owner, tub oarsman, leading oarsman, captain, lookout and boat owner. The boat owner receives two shares, while all others receive a single share. In addition everyone who helps with the processing at the shore station, receives a share of the meat as a reward for his/her services. Very often recipients of shares would retain a portion for their relatives and make gifts of the remainder to their friends. What is left is sold on the open market and fetches a price of EC$4.00/lb. Unsold meat is dry salted and sold at EC$5.00/lb.
In previous years the oil was refined from the blubber and exported but today there is no exportation of the oil. It is all consumed locally and is believed to be a natural remedy for the common cold. The blubber is distributed in the same way as the meat. The boat owner meets all expenses of maintenance and operation including the cost of the boat, harpoons, hand lances, ropes and sails, the exception being cartridges for bomb lances which are paid for by all the persons involved.
The harpooner controls and supervises all the whaling activities and therefore directly affects catches and the fate of the entire whaling industry. There is only one harpooner. He was born in 1921 and has been whaling since the 1950's. He is a great grandson of one of the founders of the whaling industry, has established himself as a skilled harpooner, and for the past forty years has contributed to the history of whaling in Bequia. In 1991 one of his nephews was recruited to his crew as a tub-oarsman. By 1993 he was promoted to bow-oarsman thereby establishing the basis for his future position as a harpooner.
This system of distribution of meat and blubber by gifts and sales has allowed whale meat to be accessible throughout Bequia, neighbouring Grenadine Islands and St.Vincent. This is a very important fact and plays a major role in the maintenance and continuity of the whaling tradition on the island.
A moratorium on commercial whaling was adopted at the 34th meeting of the ICRW and members of IWC are now prohibited from catching the designated whale species except under the category of "aboriginal subsistence whaling." At the 39th meeting of the same body, whaling in Bequia was approved as aboriginal subsistence whaling and a quota of three humpback whales per year was set for St.Vincent and the Grenadines with effect from 1987/88 whaling season. From the 1993/94 whaling season the quota was reduced from three to two whales. The total number of whales caught over the seven-year period was four. At the next meeting of the ICRW in Grenada it is expected that a new quota of three humpback will be sought.
Young men in their twenties and thirties have recently joined the whaling crew and the harpooner for the next generation has been improving his skill. For the people of Bequia whaling is a way of life and will continue to be so for a very long time. Recent DNA analysis has shown that the stock from which these whales are taken is the north Atlantic with a stable population of 10 thousand individuals. It is the intention of the government and people of the country to manage this resource on a sustainable basis.
Recommended Reading: "Flouting the Convention" in the Atlantic Monthly, May 1999. By William Aron, William Burke, and Milton Freeman
The WCW would like to take this opportunity to commend the Atlantic Monthly for its decision to publish such an important and, to some, controversial article.
"The continuing dysfunction of the IWC one of the most prominent conservation groups in the world should worry everybody who has concerns about preserving our natural heritage" (p.1-2)
This article presents a detailed analysis of the current state of the IWC, and expresses concern for its future relevance in light of what it has become. From its earliest failures to effectively regulate over-exploitation of whale stocks, to its present state of paralysis brought on by the presence of non-whaling/ anti-whaling nations, the IWC's inability to carry out its mandate has serious ramifications for international environmental law, and the principle of sustainable resource management. The authors discuss the historical emergence within the IWC of a strong anti-whaling contingent, and illustrate the tactics with which it continues to thwart the IWC in its attempts to carry out its intended mandate: to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks" and the "development, and optimum utilization of the whale resources".
At present, the authors argue, the IWC has become nothing more than a charade. On the surface, it appears to be a scientific management body. In reality, however, it has become a political arena, governed by those who place particular morality and emotion over more universal principles of sustainable management and international co-operation. Its annual meetings, intended to ensure the continued conservation of whale stocks, have instead become ground zero for media battles waged between pro- and anti-whaling forces. In this atmosphere of "posturing irrelevancy", precious little time is spent attending to the principles of the Convention, and their continued application.
In light of this, one might conclude that the IWC should be abandoned to its fate. Nonetheless, the authors argue that it is not beyond rescue, at least not yet. Though the commission may presently be nothing more than a charade, the Convention itself still represents the most immediate possibility for a global, scientific management scheme for the planets whale resources. In the interests of enacting this possibility, they suggest the immediate completion / implementation of the Revised Management Scheme. The RMS represents a compromise between whaling and non-whaling interests. If the IWC is to begin fulfilling its mandate, this notion compromise between its diverse cultural and economic interests will be absolutely essential. As the authors themselves conclude, such compromise "would also suggest that nations in diverse economic and cultural circumstances can cooperate and compromise for the mutual environmental good- something that will be in ever greater demand".
Please take the time to read this important, informative article. Click here to take you directly to the article on the Atlantic Monthly website.