CASE NUMBER: 138
CASE MNEMONIC: ESKIMO
CASE NAME: Eskimo Whale Hunting
I. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
Subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale has been the vital element of a millennia-old Eskimo culture. Such hunting posed no danger to the bowhead when its population was at a natural high level. However, irresponsible commercial whaling in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century drastically reduced the bowhead population. Although the bowhead had been under international protection from commercial whaling for most of the twentieth century, it has failed to proliferate back to its former level. If the bowhead population levels remain low, the species will be vulnerable to extinction by over-hunting, oil pollution, or the spontaneous population "crashes" which occur in small populations. Accordingly, with the cooperation of Alaska's Eskimos themselves, the United States began steps toward regulation of Eskimos whaling which could protect the bowhead without impairing the unique Eskimo culture.
2. Description
The Inupiat is a distinct ethnic grouping of the Inuit Eskimo peoples who inhabit the circumpolar North, encompassing the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. Following their own language their name means "the people" because of the central significance of the bowhead in their traditional culture.
The Inupiats also call themselves the "People of the Whale" since these people have hunted the arctic bowhead stocks for at least 2,500 years. Historically, the Inupiats harvested about sixty bowheads a year from the Bering Sea off Alaskažs north coast. Although the stone-tipped harpoons used by their ancestors have been replaced by guns and explosives, today's Inupiats still use the sealskin boats known as umiaks to pursue the whale.
Thus, culture, demographics, and technology all worked to limit the size of the subsistence bowhead catch. "The significance of subsistence is not in food gathering alone, but with the intertwining of food gathering and the socio-cultural identification of a traditional and unique lifestyle."
This balance was upset when Yankee Captain Thomas Roys discovered the rich arctic bowhead stocks in 1848. Commercial whaling in the Bering Sea prospered until about 1910. A combination of vastly reduced bowhead numbers and a declining world market for whale products resulted in the complete shutdown of commercial whaling operations. Fueled by wages of export native harpooners employed on Yankee whaling ships, the sixty-year commercial whaling period markets the emergence of limited cash economy among Inupiats. Both cash wages and access to some amenities of modern life were lost with departure of commercial whaling ships. Thrown out of a centuries-old balance with their environment, and partially dependent upon imported goods, the Inupiats were hard hit by the end of commercial whaling. Inupiat's life was restored to its previous subsistence mode of whaling for exclusively local consumption due to the scarcity and high cost of equipment, the lack of markets, and low cash value of whale products. Because commercial whaling had devastated bowhead stocks, the Inupiat harvest dropped to one-sixth of pre-1848 levels. The number of bowheads landed by the approximately thirty-five crews rose from about ten a year in the 1910's to an average of fifteen whales by 1965.
Three events during this period need special mention. First, in 1947 the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory was established in Barrow which exposed Inupiat employees to modern scientific research techniques. This development would later influence the course of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC). Second, Alaskan statehood in 1959 set the stage for Congressional legislation on the environment and Alaska. Third, the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay in 1968 had broad ramifications for Inupiat life and whaling. Oil royalties are presently the major revenue source for the North Slope Borough, which funds the AEWC.
The late 1960s mineral booms on Alaska's North Slope kicked off the modern era of Inupiat bowhead whaling. Inupiat workers earned high wages in the oil fields, and many invested their surplus earnings by outfitting whaling crews. By 1976 the number of crews based in the ten Inupiat whaling villages had doubled or tripled from pre-boom levels.
The sheer increase in numbers combined with the lower skill levels of inexperienced new whalers caused the number of whales struck but lost to soar. In the spring hunt of 1977, twenty-nine bowheads were killed and landed, three were killed and lost, and seventy-nine were struck and lost, for a total of 111 strikes. These figures were the final straw for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee, which then estimated the worldwide bowhead population between 800 and 2,000 animals.
The IWC reacted by voting to ban the fall hunt and to impose a zero bowhead quota for 1978. News of this vote hit Inupiat whaling villages unfavorably. Although the Inupiats have successfully lobbied the IWC for minimal bowhead quotas ever since, the years after the vote is a new chapter in the saga of Inupiat hunting of the bowhead. The modern epoch pits the Inupiats against the outside world, and arguably the bowhead as well, in a struggle for cultural survival.
The Inupiats are by no means the only indigenous peoples whose culture is threatened by the near extinction of a prized animal species. Time after time, a combination of hunting pressure and habitat destruction has threatened indigenous peoples' cultural survival and forced assimilation. By offering a model management regime for subsistence taking of endangered species, the inupiat bowhead saga posits important lessons for the protection of indigenous rights. Both the US government and the IWC have shown an understanding that indigenous whaling cultures, like whales, are endangered and in need of special protection. US domestic law offers exemplary agreements, legislation, and case law which seek to protect the subsistence hunting rights of deserving indigenous groups and prevents abuse of such provisions by few deserving claimant.
Since its inception, the IWC has distinguished between subsistence whaling for cultural reasons and commercial whaling profit. The IWC is exemplary by allocating a strong advisory role to the Scientific Committee. Science plays an essential role in the management of endangered species, but other factors must also be considered when the survival of an indigenous culture is at stake. The IWC voted to grant the Inupiat bowhead quotas based on the findings of cultural anthropologists, though marine biologists had advised complete protection. Because their culture ultimately depends on the survival of the bowhead, the Inupiats in turn must recognize the importance of science and must be willing to suspend or reduce their hunt to save the whale.
3. Related Cases
Keyword Clusters
(1): Species = Sea Mammal [SMAM]
(2): Bio-Geography = OCEAN
(3): Environmental Problem = Species Loss Sea [SPLS]
4. Draft Author: Marcela Rabi and Gary Gomez
II. LEGAL Clusters
5. Discourse and Status: DISagreement and COMPlete
The first international agreement among the whaling nations was signed in 1936. Ten years later, in 1946, representatives of the countries involved in the whaling industry met in Washington, D.C., and established the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which now represents eighteen different countries. The consequences of the IWC action are defined by treaty and statute.
This commission has placed many restrictions on whaling. There are government inspectors on board every whaling ship, whose job is to make sure that the commission's rules and restrictions are followed. Nevertheless, in recent years these controls do not seem to work properly (see JWHALE and NWHALE cases).
6. Forum and Scope: IWC and MULTIlateral
International conservation societies and judicious governments are concerned about the decrease in the whale population that are attempting to find workable ways of limiting the number of whales being killed.
7. Decision Breadth: 50
The International Whaling Commission established in 1946 included 18 countries (like United States, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, Iceland, Canada among others).
8. Legal Standing: LAW and TREATY
III. GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9. Geographic Localization
a. Geographic Domain: North America [NAMER]
b. Geographic Site: ARCTIC
c. Geographic Impact: USA
This case is related to Alaska's Eskimos and the hunting of the bowhead whale. However, the bowhead can be found not only in the Bering Sea, but also in the Arctic waters of Canada and Greenland, and the Barents Sea. Bowhead whales were believed to be fully extinct in the European section of the Arctic Ocean, but recently these whales have occasionally been observed in that area. A bowhead whale is the rarest of all the whale species.
10. Sub-National Factors: NO
11. Type of Habitat: OCEAN
IV. TRADE Clusters
12. Type of Measure: QUOTA
13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDirect
14. Relation of Trade Measure to Resource Impact
a. Direct Related : YES WHALE
b. Indirect Related : NO
c. Not Related : NO
d. Process Related : YES Species Loss Sea [SPLS]
15. Trade Product Identification: WHALE
Whale hunting yielded meat, oil, and bones for daily needs. 16. Economic Data
Man has long hunted whales and used various parts of the whale for his needs. The early inhabitants of Alaska hunted whales in 1500 B.C.'s. The part of whale which is imported most is the oil that comes from the blubber layer in the subcutaneous connective tissue. Earlier, whale oil was used as lamp oil; today it is used principally in the manufacture of margarine. Whale oil also plays an important role as a raw material in the soap industry and in the production of linoleum and synthetic resins. The oil yields from the whaling is only 2 percent of the world's fat production and only 5 percent of the production of animals fats. Thus, it cannot be said that whaling has any great significance in the nourishment of an ever increasing human population. The meat of the larger baleen whales is eaten especially by the Japanese, but also in parts of western Europe. The meat of these whales is also used as dog food and, when it has been dried and crushed into meat powder, and as cattle feed.
Man uses whale bones to make glue and gelatin or manure (once the bones have been crushed). Additional whaling products include vitamins and hormones from different internal organs, connective tissue fibers (used for example, in stringing tennis rackets), ivory from the teeth of sperm whales, spermaceti, and ambergris.
17. Impact of Trade Restriction: BAN
The IWC has placed many restrictions on whaling. There are areas where one is not allowed to hunt whales at all, while whaling is allowed elsewhere only during definitive hunting seasons. Right whales are completely protected, as are females with calves. Unfortunately, it is not possible to protect female whales, or even pregnant females, completely; one does not really know the sex of a whale until it is dead and on the rope.
18. Industry Sector: FOOD
19. Exporters and Importers: USA and MANY
An important factor in the case is the contention that Alaskan ship and maritime traffic, often transporting oil, are harming whale populations. Ship traffic and resulting propeller and engine noise (reflecting off of ice flows) detour whales from their natural migration routes, since they rely on sonar for navigation. Many Inuits and others contend that the fall in the number of strikes is due to the higher shipping levels in the area. However, one small-scale statistical study found only a small statistical correlation.
V. ENVIRONMENT Clusters
20. Environmental Problems: Species Loss Sea [SPLS]
21. Species Information
Name: Bowhead whale, or Greenland Right
Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
Type: Animal/Mammal/Cetacea
Diversity: Arctic Ocean
At present, the baleen whales are represented in all the worlds' oceans by members of three families (gray whales, right whales, and finback whales), of which the gray whales (Eschrichtiidae) are the most primitive. The most highly specialized baleen whale, the Bowhead, or Greenland Right Whale (Balaena mysticetus) is undoubtedly the most typical, most highly specialized right whales because it is especially valuable for its large yields of oil and baleen. The bowhead is also known as a "right" whale because it is a slow swimmer and thus easy to hunt. With a length of up to 64 ft (20 m) and a weight of 80 tons, it is the largest species of the family; with blubber 20 in. (50 cm) thick and whalebone 13 ft (4 m) long. It was commercially the most valuable. Its head, set off by a definite indentation at the neck, is the largest head of all whales, both relative to its body size and in absolute measurements (see Table 138-1).
Table 138-1
The Characteristics of the Baleen Whale
Reproduction: Gestation period: 10-12 months
Young per birth: 1
Weight at birth: Unknown
Life Cycle: Weaning: 6-10 months
Sexual maturity: At about 38 ft (12 m) length
Life span: More than 30 years
Food: Krill, including smallest species and larval
stages.
Habit and Habitat: Always near the Arctic ice edge, even for
birth of young; singly or in small family groups, sometimes in
company with beluga or narwals.
From ancient times, the whales have been divided into two groups, whose paleontologic unity is likewise a matter of dispute: the toothed whales (Odontoceti) and the baleen whales (Mysticeti). Several profound differences in morphologic anatomy (such as teeth versus baleen plates, the number of external nares, the development of olfactory organs, ear musculature, and air sac systems) have contributed variously to the hypothesis that the tooth and baleen whales evolved independently. In the baleen whales (Mysticeti), the teeth are replaced by baleen plates. Only the embryonic forms contain vestigial teeth, which confirm that these whales descend from toothed ancestors.
The ballen whale total population is about 3000 animals, distributed principally in the Bering Sea, the Arctic waters of Canada and Greenland, and the Barents Sea, are among the most endangered of all. The bowhead whales are true creatures of the Arctic.
22. Resource Impact and Effect: HIGH and REGULatory
One of the most difficult jobs of the whaling commission is deciding the number of whales that can be killed during each coming hunting season. Unfortunately, the hunting quotas were too high, and sometimes the protective measures adopted by the Commission were not being followed.
23. Urgency and Life Time: HIGH and more than 30 years
Man and his new techniques can kill off these giant sea mammals within a few years. Only the voluntary restrictions of whaling will postpone, or even hopefully prevent the total extinction of these animals.
24. Substitutes: YES
Nowhere in the world -- apart from a few small tribes of primitive island or coastal dwellers -- are whale products still needed to satisfy the necessity of life; It even appears that a suitable substitute for the precious spermaceti exists, in the oil of the Mexican jojoba plant. Also, the baleen whale was formerly important as the supplier of the "whale bone" (baleen) which was a vital feature of the corset industry which today we use steel springs and synthetic materials for the same purpose.
According to the Cultural Anthropology Panel that studied the importance of whaling to Inupiat culture, society, and economy, concluded that whaling retained its historical importance in contemporary Inupiat culture. The panel found out that the hunting of other animals could never replace bowhead whaling. Moreover, it was concluded that limitations on subsistence activities "threaten the survival of Eskimo culture and the organization of their society."
VI. OTHER Factors
25. Culture: YES
The Eskimos once occupied the Arctic shores of North America and adjacent parts of Asia from the mouth of the Kolyma River in European Russia East Greenland. This culture has always been based primarily upon sea mammal hunting, whale hunting being the most important economic factor, and is further characterized by permanent settlements at places favorable for hunting whale, walrus, and seal.
However, the meaning of Inupiat subsistence hunting goes beyond the survival-oriented imperative of providing the necessities of food and clothing. An Inupiat hunter testimonial evokes the ritual and religious importance of the bowhead hunt: "The whale is more than food to us. It is the center of our life and culture. We are the People of the Whale. The taking and sharing of the whale are our Eucharist and Passover. The whaling festival is our Easter and Christmas, the Arctic celebrations of the mysteries of life."
In the mythology of the Inuit the goddess of the sea and the whale -- Sedna -- was the most revered of all deities. The Inuit would perform elaborate ceremonies and rites prior to each hunt and perform a dance that mimics the swimming of the whale, even spitting tinted red water out of their mouths to foreshadow a successful hunt and the bleeding whale. They ask the whale to sacrifice itself to feed their families.
According to Larsen and Rainey, the Eskimos knew how to use literally every bit of the whale: bones, baleen, sinews and fibers for building homes, sleds, boats, and tools; skin and entrails, if not eaten when fresh, are used as covering and packing materials; meat and blubber or oil as vital sustenance and the most important source of energy. In the igloo, the whale-oil lamps provided not only light, but heat as well; the blubber, bursting with calories, fueled the engine of life in the Arctic.
26. Human Rights: NO
27. Trans-Boundary Issues: YES
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