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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Government to hold hearings about gray whale hunting

Associated Press

SEATTLE — The federal government will hold three hearings in October to gather public comment and suggestions on a proposal by the Makah Indian tribe to resume hunting gray whales in waters off their reservation at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula.

The meetings are part of a review required under federal environmental law that will eventually lead to publication of an environmental impact statement on the hunting by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

These steps were prompted by the tribe’s February request for a waiver of whaling restrictions imposed by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled last year that the tribe — although its 1855 treaty specifically allows continued whaling — must comply with that law and obtain a waiver from NMFS before it can proceed with a hunt.

An environmental impact statement assesses the environmental effects of a proposed action — in this case whaling — and identifies ways to minimize any harmful environmental effects.

The Makah tribe killed one gray whale in the spring of 1999 under an aboriginal subsistence quota granted to the United States by the International Whaling Commission.

The tribe has done no hunting since then, due in part to ongoing litigation. The decision to resume hunting after the recovering gray whale population was taken off the Endangered Species List drew heated opposition from some animal-rights groups. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society maintained a presence at Neah Bay for months before the hunt.

The Makah are proposing to harvest as many as 20 gray whales during a five-year period, with a maximum of five whales in any one year and subject to any IWC quotas.

The public meetings are scheduled for Oct. 5 at the Makah Tribal Council Community Hall in Neah Bay, Oct. 6 at the Vern Burton Memorial Community Center in Port Angeles, and Oct. 11 at the Naval Reserve Building in South Lake Union Park in Seattle. All the meetings will start at 6:30 p.m.

NMFS is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department.