International Whaling Commission to Review Quotas for North Pacific Gray Whales

MERCAPESCA.NET The Portal for Fish Markets and the Fishing Sector reports:

"U.S Prepares to Host the International Whaling Commission

The United States government supports aboriginal subsistence whaling, and believes the quotas should be favorably reviewed

The United States will host the 2007 annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Anchorage, AK, on May 28-31, 2007. As current Chair of the IWC, NOAA's Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, Dr. William T. Hogarth is preparing for intense discussions at this year's meeting. A critical focus of this year's meeting will be review of the U.S. subsistence hunting quotas of the Western Arctic bowhead whale and gray whale. Ten Alaska Native villages in the far north conduct subsistence bowhead whale hunts overseen by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and NOAA Fisheries. Also under consideration this year are aboriginal whaling quotas for the eastern population of the North Pacific gray whale by the Makah Indian Tribe."