The aboriginal subsistence whalers - authorized as such by the IWC - have been a
protected species - until now. Now the EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency)
has broken the silent agreement within the "Save-the-Whale" camp and attacked
the Russian Inuit whalers. And for good reason. It has been public for years that
most of the grey whale meat is fed to foxes in the fur industry; which is not
exactly in accordance with the criteria for this special category of whaling.
The inconsistency of the "Aboriginal Subsistence" category is so obvious that it
can only be ignored for tactical reasons. Greenpeace's shining image was tarnished
when it was made clear - back in the eighties - that their campaign to stop the
"baby-seal" hunt had caused economic and social distress in Inuit communities in
Greenland and Canada. In a internal memo, they concluded that it was in
"Greenpeace's best interests" to "leave them [the Greenland hunters] alone", even if
their communities aspire to reach western standards of living. The reason given
was that Inuit political influence was growing - and that they had the media on
their side. Part of the consideration might also have been that the basic ideology of
Greenpeace - like that of some other green organisations - tends to view the
indigenous peoples' relationship to nature as an example to follow.
Not a Secret
A large portion of whale meat from the Greenland hunt of minke whales and fin whales enters the ordinary domestic commercial distribution network, and is
found in local shops and supermarkets. This is in no way kept secret by the
Greenland authorities. In a report to the IWC in 1989, they described the
distribution system in detail. At the same time, a majority of IWC members
require Japan to remove all commercial elements from the whaling operations of
the four costal communities for whom they are seeking an interim relief quota.
Japan has presented an action plan for how this can be done. In this plan, the term
non-commercial is defined to mean "not to produce any profits from the
distribution of whale products and from the sales of whale meat dishes at
"traditional guest houses and inns"". A definition which cannot be applied to
Greenland whaling operations. The plan included detailed measures for ensuring
that none of the meat enters the commercial market, including the use of the new
baby of the save-the-whale side - DNA testing.
Rejected Yet Again
"But the Japanese request was rejected yet again at this year's IWC meeting. The
concerns expressed by several delegations from the majority block were based on
the premise that one could not establish a third category of whaling. This was not,
however, what Japan had asked for. They had asked for an exemption for these
four communities until the RMP is in place, to alleviate the distress caused by the
moratorium.
All organisations campaigning to stop commercial whaling have so far made the
same tactical judgement as Greenpeace; they reject non-commercial Japanese
coastal whaling but keep silent on the commercial aspects of the Greenland hunt.
That this judgement could have something to do with the positive image of
indigenous people in the media and public opinion is confirmed by the position of
some of these organisations on Faroese pilot whaling.
Not Blessed
Faroese whaling is not blessed by the attention of the IWC, because pilot whales
are too come within the IWC's management mandate. If the pilot whale had been
on the Schedule, Faroe Islanders would have fulfilled all criteria for the aboriginal
subsistence category. The hunt is inessence non-commercial, although a small
percentage of the free shares given to individuals can be found in shops; but
unlike in Greenland, it is not sold at the market price. The Faroese Government
has set a maximum prize to minimize profits.
The reasons given by the EIA, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and
others for opposing the Faroese pilot whale hunt are their claims that the hunt is
cruel and that the Faroe Islanders are rich and do not need the whale meat. They
can buy other meats in shops. But if these whale-savers think the Faroese hunt is
cruel, they must also find the Alaskan Bowhead hunt even crueller. Here the
time-to-death is substantially longer. And money from oil-wells do not exactly
make the Alaskan Inuits in question poor. They can also buy broiler chickens or
hamburgers to substitute whale meat. So far no major anti-whaling organisation
has launched a campaign against Alaskan Bowhead whaling.
Long Needed Discussion
The EIA "revelation" of grey whales fed to the foxes on Chukotskiy peninsula may
signal a slide in tactical considerations. Indigenous hunters may no longer be
sacrosanct. But a declaration of war from the save-the-whale side would motivate
a long-needed discussion on the categories of whaling - and it is by no means
certain that such a discussion would take the direction EIA would prefer.
"What is the difference between feeding your family directly with whale meat and
selling the whale meat in order to obtain food for your family? I have problems
making the distinction", IWC Secretary Ray Gambell admitted in a recent lecture
at a marine mammal symposium in Tromsų, Norway. He concluded that there is
"little consistency" in the way the aboriginal subsistence management scheme is
implemented or applied.
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