A federal judge has moved the Makah Tribe a big step forward in its 16-year-quest to resume hunting gray whales. U.S. Coast Guard administrative law judge George Jordan largely rejected animal welfare groups’ complaints that the hunt sought by the Makahs would endanger the whales of the eastern North Pacific. He recommended that the Makah Tribe be allowed to conduct a hunt largely as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration has proposed, though he proposed new restrictions on hunting in the winter and spring to protect a small subpopulation of whales that occasionally wander from the Asian side of the Pacific Ocean into waters off Washington state. >click to read< 10:36
Tag Archives: Animal Welfare Institute
Enviro’s Lukewarm Reception For Canada Modifying Right Whale Protections
The Animal Welfare Institute has responded to the Canadian government’s recent decision to modify right whale protections, specifically concerning how they affect lobster and crab fishers. On the one hand, the institute welcomes and applauds the government commitment to “Whale Safe” ropeless fishing gear. However, it does not accept the promotion of weaker rope lines as a long-term solution for entanglement. >click to read< , with a link to the policy they oppose, unreasonably. 18:06
Alaska Natives believed whale hunt was legal, Enviro group critisizes NOAA
Indigenous hunters in Alaska initially believed they were legally hunting a beluga whale when they unlawfully killed a protected grey whale with harpoons and guns after the massive animal strayed into a river last year, a federal investigative report said. ,, “The hunters also believed that if they were the first ones to shoot or harpoon the whale, the kill would be theirs,” it states. “This comes with a large amount of community pride.”,, The hunt underscores the tension between animal rights activists who want to safeguard at-risk species and indigenous residents who depend on subsistence fishing and hunting as part of their ancient culture and traditions. The Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute criticized NOAA for not pushing for charges over a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. >click to read<17:02
NOAA/NMFS Declines to List Thorny Skate as Threatened or Endangered
In response to a petition from Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute to list thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) under the Endangered Species Act, we have now determined that listing is not warranted at this time. The May 2015 petition requested that we list a “Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment” or a “United States Distinct Population Segment” of thorny skate as threatened or endangered. Thorny skate are at low abundance in U.S. waters compared to historical levels, primarily due to overfishing. However, declines have been halted throughout most of the species’ full range, and the species remains abundant throughout the North Atlantic, with hundreds of millions of individuals in the Northwest Atlantic alone. Read the rest here 12:21
