Source: High North News, No.11, Nov. 1996, published by the High North Alliance
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Russia Defies IWC:Allows Chukotka Inuit to Take Two BowheadsRussian authorities have made it clear that they will allow the aboriginal communities of the autonomous Chukotka region in the far north-east of Siberia to catch 2 bowhead whales this year. At the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Aberdeen in June this year, Russia withdrew it’s request for a quota of 5 bowhead whales a year for the Chukotka Inuit, when it became obvious that the request would not achieve the necessary three quarter majority. What is not obvious is whether Russia is at all obliged to ask the IWC for a quota. The general provisions of the IWC convention say that a quota should be available to all member countries of the IWC and that the Commission is not allowed to allocate quotas to certain countries. As far as the stock in question is concerned, the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock, the IWC set a quota of 204 bowheads landed for the four year period 1995 to 1998, but this quota is claimed by the USA since, in accordance with the rules for aboriginal subsistence whaling, the quota is calculated on the needs the Alaskan whaling communities have for whale meat”. “I think the Russian bowhead hunt is only a problem for the IWC if the total catch exceeds the catch limit for that stock”, says IWC Secretary Ray Gambell, to the High North Web News. He adds that it is difficult to know whether this will be the case in 1996, as the necessary information from the Alaskan hunt is not yet available. The IWC has imposed limitations on how large a share of the four-year quota can be taken each year. At present, it is also not possible to say whether the start of a limited Russian hunt will lead to the four-year quota being overstepped. In a letter dated October 31, the IWC Secretariat was notified by the Russian Embassy in London that a licence would be given to catch two bowhead and that all the whale meat and byproducts were to be used “exclusively for local consumption”. When the Russian delegation withdrew their quota request at the IWC meeting, they made it clear that the request would not be repeated. Russia utilises an a annual quota of 140 grey whales pursuant to the IWC aboriginal subsistence whaling category. Only 85 of these were taken last year. The bowhead hunt, however, is more strongly rooted in Chukotka Inuit traditions than the grey whale hunt, and the meat is preferred to that of the grey whale. The bowhead is also easier to catch with simple technology as it will float after it has been killed. Until the fall of the communist regime, the grey whales were hunted by a single, fairly modern and specialised catcher boat outfitted with a harpoon gun. Due to economic hardship and problems in providing diesel and spare parts, this ship has not been in operation since 1992. The IWC has been well aware of the fact that much of the meat from this ship was fed to foxes on fur farms. Even so, quotas were still allocated on the basis of the calculated nutritional needs of the Chukotka whaling communities. “There is disastrous situation connected with providing the indigenous population with food in Chukotka”, wrote representatives of the whaling communities to the Russian IWC Commissioner in April. “There is a vicious circle whereby the indigenous peoples have no means of existence nor earnings. On a number of fur farms people do not get their wages for more than a year ... and prices for imported food in rural stores constantly increase, making these foods virtually inaccessible. This causes suffering, particularly among children, and threatens irreversible consequences regarding the survival ... of the indigenous people”. In the High North Web Library you will find the
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