To help reduce the number of whales struck but lost and 

 to make the killing more humane, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

 Commission, with support from the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration, has contracted for a study to 

 develop a more reliable and powerful type of explosive device 

 for use in the bowhead whale hunt. During 1988, the prototype 

 for the new projectile, called a penthrite bomb, was tested 

 successfully under experimental conditions on a dead whale. 

 Subseguently , a limited number of the new projectiles were 

 made available to Alaska Eskimo whaling captains in certain 

 villages for use during the 1988 spring and fall hunts. Nine 

 whales were taken with the new projectile in 1988. Further 

 tests will be required to determine how much the device will 

 contribute to reducing the struck but lost rate. 



Agreement between the Oil and Gas Industry and Alaska Natives 



Seismic surveys and other activities associated with 

 offshore oil and gas exploration and development may affect 

 the movement and behavior of bowhead whales during the fall 

 migration, thereby forcing Alaska Eskimo whalers to travel 

 greater distances during the fall hunt. This in turn may 

 increase the risk that those engaged in the hunt may be injured 

 or killed or be unable to bring dead whales back to their 

 villages. Therefore, in 1986, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

 Commission and certain companies engaged in oil and gas 

 activities on Alaska's North Slope entered into a cooperative 

 agreement for the fall 1986 hunt whereby industry participants 

 agreed to: (1) attempt to tow caught whales to a suitable 

 butchering site to prevent meat from spoiling (if an industry 

 vessel was available near the kill site) ; cache emergency 

 supplies (e.g., gasoline, food, etc.) at selected sites for 

 use by subsistence hunters; (3) provide emergency assistance 

 to hunters during adverse weather conditions; and (4) assist 

 in transporting whale meat and muktuk to prevent spoilage and 

 maximize utilization of the catch. 



The Agreement was approved by the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration in 1986. In 1987, the Agreement 

 was modified to include additional industry participants and 

 renewed for the fall 1987 hunt. In 1988, the Agreement was 

 modified once again and renewed for the 1988 fall hunt. 

 Among other things, the modifications adopted in 1988 clarified 

 actions that industry planes and vessels would take to avoid 

 interfering with ongoing whaling activity. 



Research Planning and Coordination 



In December 1977, the IWC lifted its total ban on 

 subsistence taking of bowhead whales that had been adopted 

 the preceding June. This action was taken, in part, on a 

 pledge by the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC that the United 



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