whales they hunted, given the population status of right or gray whales, also
aboriginal whalers could not continue as before. In order to continue whaling, the
Commission had to amend the Schedule in a way that would afford aboriginal
whalers a quota for specific species over a certain period of time. Before this could
be done, however, it was up to the governments of those countries in which
aboriginal subsistence whaling occurred to submit a ‘Needs Statement’ to the IWC
in which it is clearly outlined why the respective indigenous people is in need of
whale hunts. This practice continues to this day and up until IWC67 in 2018, every
6 years a new application for a new quota had to be filed. We will turn back to this
below.
Currently, there are four countries in the IWC in which ASW is conducted: the
United States for the Eskimo and Makah whale hunts; the Russian Federation for
whaling in Chukotka; Denmark for whaling in Greenland; and St Vincent & the
Grenadines for the Bequia humpback whale hunts. While the IWC had rather little
concerns granting a quota for the Eskimo, Chukchi, Greenlandic and Bequia hunts,
the issue surrounding the Makah was significantly more complex. This stemmed
from the fact that the Makah ceased their gray whale hunts voluntarily in 1926 due to
the dramatically overexploited gray whale stocks. Even though they merely took a
very small number per year, they nevertheless considered any whale that was taken
one too many. Since the gray whale population recovered only very slowly, the
Makah did not conduct their traditional, ceremonial and subsistence-based whale
hunts for more than 70 years. By the mid 1990s, however, gray whale stocks had
recovered and the Makah wished to resume their whale hunts. Even though both the
moratorium and the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 were then
in place—we turn to the MMPA in the following section—they also had a treatybased right to conduct whaling. Consequently, they agreed with the US government
on support for non-commercial gray whale hunts and the US submitted a Needs
Statement in 1996.
The United States is one of the most powerful actors in the IWC—and in world
politics in general—and holds a strong record of whale conservation. Still, the Needs
Statement for the Makah was not accepted immediately. Countries like Australia or
Oman strongly opposed a resumption of Makah whaling. While Australia has in
general supported aboriginal rights in the IWC, it questioned the traditionality of
Makah whaling since the older generation of whalers that held the knowledge on
traditional whaling had been gradually replaced by younger whalers who, according
to Australia, did not hold such knowledge anymore. Oman, itself an outspokenly
anti-whaling country, questioned the legitimacy of Makah whaling and the legitimacy of resuming it at the end of the twentieth century. After all, the Makah had not
been whaling for 70 years and survived, so why would it be impossible to continue
surviving without whaling? Also other countries questioned the Makah’s whaling
tradition in light of the 70-year break. In the end, however, in 1997 the Schedule was
amended in a way that included the Makah take of the North Pacific gray whale
stock, thus the US-presented Needs Statement was accepted.
The case of the Makah shows that the fact that an aboriginal people has a whaling
tradition does not automatically provide reason enough for the IWC to accept this
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5 The International Legal Framework for Whales
aboriginal whalers could not continue as before. In order to continue whaling, the
Commission had to amend the Schedule in a way that would afford aboriginal
whalers a quota for specific species over a certain period of time. Before this could
be done, however, it was up to the governments of those countries in which
aboriginal subsistence whaling occurred to submit a ‘Needs Statement’ to the IWC
in which it is clearly outlined why the respective indigenous people is in need of
whale hunts. This practice continues to this day and up until IWC67 in 2018, every
6 years a new application for a new quota had to be filed. We will turn back to this
below.
Currently, there are four countries in the IWC in which ASW is conducted: the
United States for the Eskimo and Makah whale hunts; the Russian Federation for
whaling in Chukotka; Denmark for whaling in Greenland; and St Vincent & the
Grenadines for the Bequia humpback whale hunts. While the IWC had rather little
concerns granting a quota for the Eskimo, Chukchi, Greenlandic and Bequia hunts,
the issue surrounding the Makah was significantly more complex. This stemmed
from the fact that the Makah ceased their gray whale hunts voluntarily in 1926 due to
the dramatically overexploited gray whale stocks. Even though they merely took a
very small number per year, they nevertheless considered any whale that was taken
one too many. Since the gray whale population recovered only very slowly, the
Makah did not conduct their traditional, ceremonial and subsistence-based whale
hunts for more than 70 years. By the mid 1990s, however, gray whale stocks had
recovered and the Makah wished to resume their whale hunts. Even though both the
moratorium and the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 were then
in place—we turn to the MMPA in the following section—they also had a treatybased right to conduct whaling. Consequently, they agreed with the US government
on support for non-commercial gray whale hunts and the US submitted a Needs
Statement in 1996.
The United States is one of the most powerful actors in the IWC—and in world
politics in general—and holds a strong record of whale conservation. Still, the Needs
Statement for the Makah was not accepted immediately. Countries like Australia or
Oman strongly opposed a resumption of Makah whaling. While Australia has in
general supported aboriginal rights in the IWC, it questioned the traditionality of
Makah whaling since the older generation of whalers that held the knowledge on
traditional whaling had been gradually replaced by younger whalers who, according
to Australia, did not hold such knowledge anymore. Oman, itself an outspokenly
anti-whaling country, questioned the legitimacy of Makah whaling and the legitimacy of resuming it at the end of the twentieth century. After all, the Makah had not
been whaling for 70 years and survived, so why would it be impossible to continue
surviving without whaling? Also other countries questioned the Makah’s whaling
tradition in light of the 70-year break. In the end, however, in 1997 the Schedule was
amended in a way that included the Makah take of the North Pacific gray whale
stock, thus the US-presented Needs Statement was accepted.
The case of the Makah shows that the fact that an aboriginal people has a whaling
tradition does not automatically provide reason enough for the IWC to accept this
106
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales