Please do me the service of writing Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D. (nos.info@noaa.gov), and tell him how much you disapprove of the decision of NOAA to allow the Makah Tribe in Washington State to begin whaling again. And send a copy of your email to Janine Ledford Executive Director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center (COS@makah.com). The only thing that is going to stop the Makah from starting whaling again is lots and lots of citizens objecting, and letting these two people know of your objections. This is what I wrote:
Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D —
I am writing you, sir, because I have just read that you have permitted the Makah Tribe in Washington State to begin killing whales again. The argument that this tribe is being permitted to begin whaling once again because it is an ancient tradition is absolute nonsense. Slavery was a tradition in the Southern states of North America for centuries until like whaling it was stopped. Should the Southern states bring back slavery because it was an ancient tradition there? Of course not.
Knowing all the research on whales, and their endangerment, how could you possibly make such an evil decision? And this tribe should be ashamed of themselves.
— Stephan A. Schwartz
Two Makah Indian whalers stand atop the carcass of a dead gray whale after helping tow it close to shore in the harbor at Neah Bay, Washington, on 17 May 1999. Credit: Elaine Thompson / AP
After facing decades of legal and bureaucratic hurdles, the Makah Tribe in Washington has won approval from the US to resume whale hunting for the first time in 25 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries announced on Wednesday that it would grant the tribe a waiver, allowing the Makah “a limited subsistence and ceremonial hunt” under an 1855 treaty. The Makah will be permitted to hunt up to 25 eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years.
The tribe of 1,500 people on the north-western tip of the Olympic Peninsula is the only Native American tribe with a treaty that specifically mentions a right to hunt whales. But it has faced more than two decades of court challenges, bureaucratic hearings and scientific review as it seeks to resume hunting for gray whales.
The decision by NOAA Fisheries grants the tribe a waiver under the Marine […]
Please see my previous comment.