Makah boat request angers whale groups

By Luis Cabrera

Associated Press

SEATTLE — The Makah Tribe says it needs a $1.2 million oceangoing patrol boat — the same kind the Coast Guard is ordering — to take part in marine mammal research and fisheries enforcement around its reservation on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula.

But anti-whaling activists contend the 48-foot vessel would simply enable the Makah to hunt whales more efficiently.

"We have stated from the beginning that the tribe intends to step up their cultural whaling activity and to include other species of whales. Now it appears they want the U.S. government to pay for it," said Sandy Abels, president of U.S. Citizens Against Whaling.

Five anti-whaling groups denounced the boat request this week after obtaining documentation on it through the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The Makah have been criticized by animal activists ever since they moved to resume traditional whaling after gray whales were removed from the federal Endangered Species list in 1994. Tribal hunters killed their first and only gray whale in May 1999, using a canoe and harpoon, as well as a big gun and a motorboat.

The tribe made its boat request in November to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service. The boat would be used to help locate gray whale populations and study whale migration patterns and food sources, said David Sones, tribal fisheries manager.

"We would be looking at their movements, their general health — a lot of the type of general science that is needed to better understand the species," he said. "We would be finding a way to plug into what’s existing as far as research, and basically be exercising our co-management responsibilities" with federal and university researchers.

The boat, which has a top speed of 25 knots, also would be used to enforce rules on Makah fishermen in the 1,120 square miles of tribal waters, Sones said.

Michael Lawrence, the Makah Tribal Council’s fisheries representative, dismissed claims that the boat would be a step toward large-scale commercial whaling. "It’s just a way that we will be able to better co-manage another resource and all of our resources," he said.

According to the tribe’s budget request, studies conducted with the vessel would help the Makah fight anti-whaling lawsuits and allow tribal members to participate on International Whaling Commission scientific committees.

If the Makah are turned down for the boat, they have listed two alternatives. One is a 42-foot Down Easter costing about $436,000, and the third option is a 35-foot Boston Whaler costing about $411,000.

Chris Yates, a NOAA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said he could offer no guess on when a decision might be made.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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