Page "Whaling" Paragraph 40

In the United States, whaling is carried out by nine different indigenous Alaskan communities.

The whaling program is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The hunt takes around 50 bowhead whales a year from a population of about 10, 500 in Alaskan waters.

Conservationists fear this hunt is not sustainable, though the IWC Scientific Committee, the same group that provided the above population estimate, projects a population growth of 3. 2 % per year.

The hunt also took an average of one or two gray whales each year until 1996.

The quota was reduced to zero in that year due to sustainability concerns.

A future review may result in the gray whale hunt being resumed.

Bowhead whales weigh approximately 5 – 10 times as much as minke whales.