BARROW(3)
投稿者： tom44 投稿日時： 2002/06/18 19:20 投稿番号： [1726 / 62227]
This spring, it's not only the whaling commission that's causing problems.
A gradual warming in the Alaskan Arctic in recent years has caused an earlier than usual bowhead migration and thin and shifting ice conditions. The result is fewer whales struck and even fewer landed, because it becomes difficult and dangerous to drag them up onto the ice.
"The sea ice conditions have not been right, for whatever reason. It's never thawed out this much this early, at least not in my lifetime," said Arnold Brower Jr., a third-generation whaling captain and tribal president of the Inupiat villages of the Arctic slope.
In late May, 58 hunters were stranded on giant ice sheets that began floating out to sea when large cracks opened up shortly after midnight.
"Somebody yelled that the ice had shifted out, and everybody panicked. They all got on their snow machines and tried to go back. Two kids made it across [by jumping], but they had to leave their two snow machines behind," said one of the hunters, Solomon Elavgak. The rest of the group had to be rescued by helicopter.
Because of the difficult ice conditions, Barrow's 42 whaling captains have landed only three whales in the season that is now winding down. (Three others have been brought in elsewhere on the coast.) In a good year, 17 or 18 whales would have been caught by now. The poor season "changes everything," said Brower, who harpooned a 38-foot female this season.
"Now, we're going to have to depend more on caribou, ducks and geese. Fishing."
U.S. officials say they have launched diplomatic efforts to persuade Japan to change its position. If that fails, the U.S. delegation has several options, including filing objections to the IWC decision, seeking an intercessional meeting to reconsider, or unilaterally allowing the Alaskans to proceed under a domestic management regime -- an option that would allow the hunt to proceed but technically could put the U.S. in violation of the international whaling agreement.
"The overall goal is that the Alaskan natives and we agree that we'd like to stay underneath the auspices of the IWC. They're used to working under the IWC, they play a big role in the IWC, and it gives them extra legal security, being under both an international and a national management plan," said Schmitten, the U.S. delegate.
But the sentiment in Barrow doesn't lean toward compromise.
"Why should I let these people who don't understand my life govern how I feed my family?" Brower asked. "Why should I have to go to the international arena and explain how I make my living?"
Ahmaogak said the Eskimos are willing to wait for a deal. But only to a point. "If all else fails, we'll go into domestic management," he said. "We're going to resume whaling, no matter what."
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-000042543jun17.story
A gradual warming in the Alaskan Arctic in recent years has caused an earlier than usual bowhead migration and thin and shifting ice conditions. The result is fewer whales struck and even fewer landed, because it becomes difficult and dangerous to drag them up onto the ice.
"The sea ice conditions have not been right, for whatever reason. It's never thawed out this much this early, at least not in my lifetime," said Arnold Brower Jr., a third-generation whaling captain and tribal president of the Inupiat villages of the Arctic slope.
In late May, 58 hunters were stranded on giant ice sheets that began floating out to sea when large cracks opened up shortly after midnight.
"Somebody yelled that the ice had shifted out, and everybody panicked. They all got on their snow machines and tried to go back. Two kids made it across [by jumping], but they had to leave their two snow machines behind," said one of the hunters, Solomon Elavgak. The rest of the group had to be rescued by helicopter.
Because of the difficult ice conditions, Barrow's 42 whaling captains have landed only three whales in the season that is now winding down. (Three others have been brought in elsewhere on the coast.) In a good year, 17 or 18 whales would have been caught by now. The poor season "changes everything," said Brower, who harpooned a 38-foot female this season.
"Now, we're going to have to depend more on caribou, ducks and geese. Fishing."
U.S. officials say they have launched diplomatic efforts to persuade Japan to change its position. If that fails, the U.S. delegation has several options, including filing objections to the IWC decision, seeking an intercessional meeting to reconsider, or unilaterally allowing the Alaskans to proceed under a domestic management regime -- an option that would allow the hunt to proceed but technically could put the U.S. in violation of the international whaling agreement.
"The overall goal is that the Alaskan natives and we agree that we'd like to stay underneath the auspices of the IWC. They're used to working under the IWC, they play a big role in the IWC, and it gives them extra legal security, being under both an international and a national management plan," said Schmitten, the U.S. delegate.
But the sentiment in Barrow doesn't lean toward compromise.
"Why should I let these people who don't understand my life govern how I feed my family?" Brower asked. "Why should I have to go to the international arena and explain how I make my living?"
Ahmaogak said the Eskimos are willing to wait for a deal. But only to a point. "If all else fails, we'll go into domestic management," he said. "We're going to resume whaling, no matter what."
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-000042543jun17.story
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