Whale hunting may increase in certain regions following a recent win by a Native American tribe

The Makah Indian Tribe in Washington state has been granted a long-sought waiver that allows it to conduct its first sanctioned whale hunts since 1999.

The Makah is a tribe of 1,500 people on the northwestern part of the Olympic Peninsula. They are the only Native American tribe with a treaty that specifically mentions a right to hunt whales for sustenance.

According to archeological evidence, this practice ceased in the early 20th century as a result of the population depletion caused by commercial whaling vessels.

After more than two decades of court challenges and scientific review, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration granted a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which otherwise forbids harming marine mammals, allowing the Makah to resume hunting for gray whales.

This waiver allows the tribe to hunt up to 25 Eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years, with a limit of two to three per year. There are approximately 20,000 whales in that population.

To safeguard the endangered Western North Pacific gray whales, the hunts will be timed to coincide with periods when these whales are not present in the area.

However, the tribe still needs to meet other requirements, including entering into a cooperative agreement with the agency under the Whaling Convention Act and obtaining a permit to hunt, which entails a monthlong public comment period.

By 1994, the Eastern Pacific gray whale population had recovered sufficiently, leading to their removal from the endangered species list. Following authorization from federal officials and the International Whaling Commission, the Makah resumed hunting activities.

In 1999, the tribe’s first successful hunt in seven decades sparked protests from animal rights activists.

After facing lawsuits from animal rights groups, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned federal approval for the tribe’s hunting activities, stating that the tribe needed to obtain a waiver under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.

In Alaska, 11 native communities have those waivers for subsistence hunts, enabling them to harvest bowhead whales, despite the species’ endangered status.

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In 2005, the Makah applied for this waiver, yet the process faced recurrent delays due to new scientific information regarding the whales and the status of their population.

In 2007, some Makah citizens hunted and killed a gray whale without authorization, leading to their conviction in federal court.