ABERDEEN, Scotland (AP) -- The United States today withdrew a proposal for limited whaling rights for an American Indian tribe, but said it would try again next year. The Makah tribe of Washington state, supported by the United States, asked the International Whaling Commission meeting this week to approve an annual five-whale quota to renew their ancient whaling culture.
The Makah request for an exemption from a worldwide moratorium was in a special category that allows small kills by aboriginal peoples for cultural and subsistence reasons. They were opposed by countries and animal rights observer groups who questioned the tribe's need for whale as food and believed its broken culture of whale hunting disqualifies it from the special category.
The dispute became a major issue at the conference.
"We remain convinced that the Makahs' demonstrated need for this quota fits within the IWC definition of aboriginalsubsistence whaling," said U.S. delegation chief D. James Baker.
But he said a few commissioners had reservations, so the delegation and Makah representatives jointly decided to defer the request until next year.
Earlier today, Japan lost its ninth consecutive attempt to win approval for traditional whaling communities to kill 50 whales in spite of a worldwide ban. The whaling commission rejected Japan's perennial request by a vote of 16 to 8. Japan objects to the 1986 ban on commercial whaling and campaigns for a return to hunting at a level that does not drive whale populations dangerously low. It kills several hundred whales each year under a provision that allows limited kills for scientific research.
Since the ban was imposed, Japan has sought the commission's approval to allow the killing of 50 minke whales annually to alleviate hardships of some north coastal communities. Some opponents, including the United States and New Zealand, say the plan is commercial and is not acceptable.
Some supporters, including such Caribbean nations as St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda, say food from the sea is critically important to the economic security of coastal communities, and if safeguards against exploitation exist, Japan's needs should be considered.
New Zealand, one of the strongest opponents of whaling, said it would never accept breaches of the moratorium and that the commission should stop holding out false hopes to Japan. New Zealand negotiator J.K. McKlay, said he had visited one of the Japanese communities in March and found it to be prosperous, with a tourism industry. The source of the community's distress, he said, "was the inability to continue a centuries old whaling tradition and pass that tradition on to future generations."
"Right around the world there are communities that have ceased traditional practices for all sorts of conservation, cultural, and other reasons," he said. Although there are 39 nations in the commission, they do not always attend or vote. There were five abstentions on the Japanese request.