NOAA Fisheries Releases Bowhead Whale Hunt Document

February 5, 2008

NOAA says with the bowhead whale population increasing, Alaska Natives should be allowed to harvest 255 bowhead whales from 2008 through 2012.

From a NOAA press release: NOAA Fisheries Service has released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) proposing continued hunting of bowhead whales in Alaska.

"The final document proposes that we authorize subsistence harvests of the Western Arctic stock of bowhead whales for the years 2008 through 2012 under the Whaling Convention Act, and under a cooperative agreement with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission," said James Balsiger, Administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries Service. The public comment period for the document will end on March 3, 2008, to be followed by publication of a record of decision.

Under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) approved an overall five-year subsistence catch limit for the Western Arctic stock of bowhead whales based upon the needs of Native hunters in Alaskan villages and in Russian villages along the Chukotka Peninsula. On an annual basis, NOAA Fisheries Service issues the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission the Alaskan share of this quota by regulation. In 2007 Alaska natives consumed 42 whales for subsistence.

The IWC conducted its 59th annual meeting in May 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska. Based on the management advice of its Scientific Committee, the IWC adopted a catch limit for 2008-2012 identical to that of the previous five-year period. Alternative 3 of the final EIS corresponds to the IWC action, and is the agency's preferred alternative. For more information on the proposed action, or to download a copy of the final EIS, visit www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/whales/bowhead.

For CD copies of the final document, contact Steven K. Davis, NOAA Fisheries Service, 222 West 7th Ave., #517, Anchorage, AK 99513. Written comments can be submitted to the same address or by email to bowhead-FEIS@noaa.gov. When submitting email comments, use Final Bowhead Whale EIS in the subject line.

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