Subject: NICE TRY, NOAA: Makah Whale Hunt Still Illegal
Date: Saturday, October 24, 1998 10:07 AM

October 24, 1998

NICE TRY, NOAA

**Sea Shepherd rejects attempt by National Oceanics and Atmospherics
Administration to argue legal basis for Makah whale hunt**

The U.S. Department of Commerce, via its agency, the National Oceanics and
Atmospherics Administration, is attempting to dislodge the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society from its on-site opposition to the proposed Gray whale
hunt by the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington.

Sea Shepherd has stated that it will withdraw its ships and opposition to
the Makah hunt if it can be shown that the hunt was specifically authorized
by the International Whaling Commission, as the Makah and the U.S.
Administration have maintained since October 1997.

In a letter dated October 21, 1998, sent to Seattle attorney Eric Dickman,
NOAH/NMFS Deputy Commissioner Dr. Michael Tillman attempted to argue the
legal basis for the hunt.

The argument centers on the amendment to the IWC Schedule allowing whaling
from the joint U.S/Russian quota of Bowhead/Gray whales only by those
groups "whose traditional aboriginal subsistence and cultural needs have
been recognized." Tillman maintains that "the IWC rejected the rest of the
proposed amendment, which originally stated that those needs must be
recognized 'by the International Whaling Commission.' Indeed, the
Commission itself has no mechanism for recognizing the claim of an
aboriginal group, other than by adopting a quota based upon a member
country's request."

"And if my grandmother had claws, she'd be a velociraptor," commented Paul
Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "Commerce's
argument is a marvel of disingenuousness. Several non-governmental
organizations witnessed first-hand the process by which that 'subsistence
and cultural needs' language was adopted at the October 1997 meeting of the
IWC, and all will testify that the IWC did not 'reject' it; it was cut at
the behest of the U.S., who knew the Makah would be immediately
disqualified otherwise. The U.S. would not have bothered to apply that
pressure if the IWC had no authority to permit or deny the claim of an
aboriginal group to hunt whales. The IWC -- not the United States -- is the
only body that does have that authority, with or without the
Administration's craven attempt to squeak the Makah hunt through with a
watered-down resolution."

Aboriginal subsistence whaling has been a distinct category of
international treaties since the early 1930s. The IWC established
management principles for the category in 1981, adopting a Management
Procedure for Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling in 1982.

Sea Shepherd notes the 1959 decision by the Courts of the United States
that "The modern Makah Indian tribe does not depend upon a subsistence
economy as practiced by his forefathers at the time of the 1855 Treaty."*

Tillman maintained that the U.S. position was upheld by the September 21
decision of the U.S. District Court that dismissed the lawsuit brought
against the Dept. of Commerce by Congressman Jack Metcalf and several
international environmental groups seeking to stop the hunt.

"The merits of the judge's decision in Metcalf v. Daley and his grasp of
international law can be readily determined from the fact that his written
judgment at one point refers to the IWC requirement of the 'subsistence and
cultural need' required to establish an aboriginal whaling claim, and in
the next sentence mistakenly refers to this as a 'subsistence or cultural
need,'" said Lisa Distefano, Sea Shepherdís Gray whale expedition leader at
Neah Bay. "The judge's failure to uphold international law is not a
compelling reason for us to do likewise."


*Makah Indian Tribe v. United States, 7 Ind.Cl.Com.477, affirmed 151 Ct.Cl.
170 (1960)

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Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
P.O. Box 628
Venice, CA. 90294
USA
e-mail: seashepherd@seashepherd.org
Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org
Tel: 310-301-SEAL(7325)
Canada: 604-688-7325
Fax: 310-574-3161
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