Associated Press
SEATTLE — A coalition of animal-welfare groups filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court, challenging the Makah tribe’s authority to hunt gray whales off the northwest coast of Washington.
The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States and several other groups want no whaling until a more comprehensive environmental review is conducted, said Gary Kahn, a Portland, Ore., lawyer representing the groups.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has conducted two environmental assessments, but the complaint alleges they were inadequate. The plaintiffs say a broader environmental impact statement is warranted, Kahn said.
Fisheries service spokesman Brian Gorman countered that studies already conducted show the whaling does not pose a threat to the environment.
"It was our conclusion that removing five whales from a population of about 26,000 gray whales would not have a major impact on the biology of gray whales or the environment in which they live," Gorman said Thursday.
The fisheries service’s most recent environmental assessment, issued last July, cleared the hunts to resume.
The government has 60 days to respond to the complaint, which accuses the fisheries service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association of violating two federal laws: the National Environmental Policy Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which allows only Alaska tribes to hunt whales.
The Makah’s right to whale is outlined in their 1855 treaty. The tribe moved to resume the hunt when the whales were taken off the Endangered Species List in 1994.
After making their case to the International Whaling Commission, Makah whalers were allocated 20 whales through 2002. They killed one, on May 17, 1999, their first in more than 70 years.
Messages left with Makah tribal leaders Thursday afternoon were not returned. In the past, the tribe has defended its whaling tradition, calling it a central part of its identity.
"Whaling may have been a tradition in the past, but there is nothing traditional about cruelly shooting these majestic creatures with high-powered rifles," said Michael Markarian, vice president of The Fund for Animals.
This is the latest in a series of attempts to prevent future Makah whale hunts.
In 1997, former U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf, R-Wash., and several environmental groups sued to stop whaling. They lost in U.S. District Court, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the ruling, saying the environmental impact of the hunt had not been adequately considered.
The Makah put any hunting on hold after the decision, and the fisheries service weighed four alternatives ranging from no hunt at all to a hunt with a five-whale annual limit.
Last summer, the agency concluded that Makah whaling would not threaten the gray whale population.
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