A group from Washington state called the Makah has been permitted by the federal government to hunt up to 25 Eastern North Pacific gray whales in U.S. waters over the next 10 years. This was announced Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Based in Neah Bay, Wash., the group has been permitted by the Marine Mammal Protection Act to hunt whales. The Makah have eaten whales for generations.
The waiver that was given out on Thursday is in line with the International Whaling Commission’s limits and the Treaty of Neah Bay of 1855.
Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Janet Coit said, “This final rule is a major step toward restoring the Makah Tribe’s right to hunt gray whales for ceremonial and cultural purposes.” “The measures adopted today honor the Makah Tribe’s treaty rights and their cultural whaling tradition that dates back well over 1,000 years, and is fundamental to their identity and heritage.”
All tribes must agree to work together with NOAA Fisheries and get a hunting permit before they can go on a hunt under the Whaling Convention Act.
The rule says that the tribe can only hunt three whales in U.S. seas every year. This amount has been given to Russia in the past. The Makah Tribe and the Chukotkan Natives in Russia work together on the International Whaling Commission.
There are threatened gray whales in the Western North Pacific and the Pacific Coast Feeding Group of the Eastern North Pacific. NOAA Fisheries said it will keep working to protect these whales.
Early this year, NOAA Fisheries took back the Unusual Mortality Event notice it had sent out for the gray whale group in the Eastern North Pacific. Six hundred and ninety gray whales were left alone between December 17, 2018, and November 9, 2023. Scientists found changes in their food, starvation, fewer births, and more deaths.
“Hundreds of dead gray whales were found on the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska. They were found in places where gray whales winter, migrate, and eat.” Scientists think the UME caused a 40 percent drop in the number of gray whales living in the eastern North Pacific, NOAA said in a statement marking the end of the Unusual Mortality Event.
Source: UPI News
