Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



ice, wintering in the open water and polynyas of the 

 Bering Sea and summering in more northern feeding 

 areas, principally in the eastern Beaufort Sea and, to 

 a lesser extent, in the Chukchi Sea. 



During the spring and fall migrations along the 

 northern and eastern coasts of Alaska, bowhead 

 whales are hunted by Alaska Natives from 10 coastal 

 villages. The hunts, part of a centuries-old subsis- 

 tence whaling tradition, are major cultural events and 

 an important source of food for these villages. 

 Recognizing the cultural and subsistence importance 

 of such hunts, the IWC has adopted an aboriginal 

 whaling regime under which it has established recom- 

 mended quotas for subsistence hunting, including 

 quotas for bowhead whales hunted by Alaska Natives. 



Native Subsistence Whaling 

 in Alaska and Eastern Russia 



Recommended quotas for aboriginal subsistence 

 whaling are established by the IWC at the request of 

 member nations. Quotas for protected stocks are set 

 at a level that will allow the stocks to recover while 

 meeting the documented needs of the affected Native 

 communities. Member nations are responsible for 

 implementing the recommended quotas. In the United 

 States, bowhead whale quotas are implemented under 

 a cooperative agreement between the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration and the Alaska Es- 

 kimo Whaling Commission — a Native organization 

 established to represent and oversee whaling by 

 Alaska Native whalers. Among other things, the 

 Eskimo Whaling Commission allocates quotas among 

 whaling villages in Alaska and works to improve the 

 safety and efficiency of Native subsistence whaling. 



As noted in the Marine Mammal Commission's 

 previous annual report, the IWC at its annual meeting 

 in October 1997 set a five-year block quota of 280 

 bowhead whales for the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas 

 stock. The quota was adopted in response to a joint 

 proposal from the United States and the Russian 

 Federation. It applies from 1998 through 2002 and 

 reflects a decision by the Russian Federation to allow 

 Chukotka Natives in eastern Russia to resume the take 

 of small numbers of bowhead whales for subsistence 



purposes — a practice that was stopped by the former 

 Soviet Union in the early 1970s. 



Under the five-year block quota, Natives in Alaska 

 and Chukotka may land 280 bowhead whales over the 

 five-year period. No more than 67 animals may be 

 struck each year, except that up to 15 unused strikes 

 in any year may be carried forward to the next year. 



In June 1998 representatives of the United States 

 and the Russian Federation signed an agreement 

 specifying steps that will be taken to ensure that the 

 quotas are not exceeded. Under the agreement, 

 Russian Natives were allocated up to 7 strikes in 

 1998, and Alaska Natives were allocated up to 75. 

 Early in 1999 representatives of the two countries are 

 to confer to decide on allocations for 1999, including 

 any strikes that may be carried forward from 1998. 

 Similar meetings will be held in subsequent years to 

 allocate the quotas. 



The annual numbers of strikes and landings by 

 Alaska Natives since 1973 are shown in Table 2. In 

 1998 Chukotka Natives reported taking only one 

 bowhead off Sireniki. 



Native Subsistence Whaling in Canada 



As noted in previous annual reports. Natives in 

 Canada took four bowhead whales between 1991 and 

 1996. Two were taken from the Bering-Chukchi- 

 Beaufort Seas stock (one in 1991 and one in 1996), 

 and two were taken from the highly endangered Davis 

 Strait and Hudson Bay stocks (one in 1994 and the 

 other in 1996). Three of the whales were taken under 

 licenses issued by the Canadian government and one 

 was taken without authorization. The Canadian 

 government also issued several other licenses that 

 lapsed without any whales being taken. 



Canada withdrew from the IWC in 1982 and, since 

 then, has neither sought nor obtained recommended 

 quotas from the IWC before licensing its Natives to 

 hunt bowhead whales. These actions diminish the 

 effectiveness of the IWC as the international body 

 responsible for regulating hunting and conserving 

 whale stocks worldwide. 



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