IWC approves subsistence whale quotas

The International Whaling Commission, or IWC, has approved new quotas for the subsistence hunting of bowhead whales in the United States and the Russian Federation. On July 3 during its annual meeting in Panama City the commission set a catch limit of up to 336 whales between 2013 and 2018 for Alaska and Chukotka Native subsistence whalers. The IWC has also retained the same annual limit on the whale catch as has applied in the past 15 years, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, or AEWC, said in a press release announcing the IWC decision.

“The United States and the Russian Federation allocate the available strikes between Alaska Eskimos and the Chukotka Natives under a bilateral agreement,” AEWC said. “Under the agreement for 2012, 75 strikes were allocated to the 11 Alaskan villages represented by the AEWC and seven strikes were allocated to the Chukotka Natives.”

The bowhead whale is an important food source for Alaska Arctic Native communities as well as playing a pivotal role in Native cultural traditions. There had been concerns that the IWC would fail to renew the current catch limits which expire at the end of 2012, thus requiring the United States to set its own catch limits. At the beginning of June the Alaska Congressional delegation introduced federal legislation to set U.S. limits, to ensure the continuity of catch limits should the IWC have failed to take action.

“This is a great day for our Alaska communities,” said George Noongwook, chairman of AEWC and member of the U.S. delegation to the IWC, following the IWC decision. “The IWC’s action today means that we will be able to continue to put food on our tables and conduct our whaling using the same number of strikes as we have for the past 15 years.”

—Alan Bailey