09/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/24/2024 17:26
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today applauded the efforts of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) and many others for their efforts at the 69th International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Lima, Peru to renew Alaska's subsistence whaling quota for six more years. The measure passed yesterday by consensus.
"Today, we celebrate the preservation of subsistence whaling, a cultural practice our Alaska whalers have sustainably conducted for thousands of years," said Sen. Sullivan. "This quota renewal is the result of hard work from the AEWC, represented in Peru by Chairman John Hopson Jr., Vice Chair Crawford Patkotak, and North Slope Borough Mayor Josiah Patkotak, and many others. Prior to the IWC meeting, John, Crawford, Josiah, other members of the AEWC and I met with senior executive branch officials and more than 20 different embassy representatives in the Capitol. This event was a pivotal opportunity to educate our global partners and our own federal government about our whalers' priorities. Alaska and America couldn't ask for better ambassadors than our whaling captains. I want to thank everyone involved who made this success happen, including a dedicated member of my staff, Mary Eileen Manning, who attended the Commission meeting in Peru, the U.S. Commissioner, and the entire U.S. delegation to the IWC. Congratulations to all of our whaling communities throughout the North Slope and the Bering Straits region!"
The 2024 renewal built upon the successful 2018 renewal, when the U.S. delegation secured a streamlined quota renewal commitment.
Background:
As the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change and Manufacturing Subcommittee-which has jurisdiction over our nation's oceans, fisheries, and marine mammals, including whales-Senator Sullivan has relentlessly championed the efforts of Alaska Native whalers to continue the subsistence harvest of whales.
Subsistence Whaling and IWC Background:
Worldwide whale stocks are managed through the International Whaling Commission, a group of 88 countries that have ratified the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. The Whaling Convention Act of 1949 is the relevant U.S. implementing legislation.
The convention allows for the harvest of certain whale species for nations that certify either a cultural or subsistence need for their aboriginal population. Russia, Denmark (for Greenland), the United States, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are those nations who currently practice Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW).
The subsistence harvest in Alaska is sustainable and non-commercial. The IWC has consistently certified that the biological status of Alaska's bowheads is sustainable.
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