Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling

In some parts of the world, whale products play an important role in the nutritional and cultural life of native peoples. Four IWC member countries conduct aboriginal subsistence hunts today: Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Chukotka), St Vincent and the Grenadines (Bequia) and the United States (Alaska, and also potentially a resumption of hunts previously undertaken by the Makah Tribe of Washington State).

Introduction

Aboriginal subsistence whaling does not seek to maximise catches or profit. It is entirely separate to commercial whaling and not subject to the moratorium. The Commission recognises that its handling of ASW has the potential to impact significantly on the nutritional and cultural needs of indigenous communities, and great care must be taken in discharging this responsibility.

The IWC objectives for management of aboriginal subsistence whaling are to ensure that hunted whale populations are maintained at (or brought back to) healthy levels, and to enable native people to hunt whales at levels that are appropriate to cultural and nutritional requirements in the long term.

The three objectives for management of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling, as adopted by the IWC in 1981:

To ensure that the risks of extinction to individual stocks are not seriously increased by subsistence whaling
To enable aboriginal people to harvest whales in perpetuity at levels appropriate to their cultural and nutritional requirements, subject to the other objectives
To maintain the status of whale stocks at or above the level giving the highest net recruitment and to ensure that stocks below that level are moved towards it so far as the environment permits.

ASW quotas are set in six-year blocks. The quotas are known as 'strike limits' because the quota applies a precautionary principle and includes every whale struck, whether or not it is successfully landed and harvested. Some animals may swim away but they still count towards the quota because they have been struck.

The current block was established in 2024 and strike limits will next be considered in 2030.

To support the process of quota renewal, the Commission receives information from two sources:

The Scientific Committee provide advice on the sustainability of proposed hunts and safe strike limits.
Read more about scientific advice on ASW.

The four national governments provide information about the hunts conducted by their indigenous people.
Read the Descriptions of the Hunts.

2024: a new approach for quota renewal

In 2024, the IWC implemented a more straightforward process of quota renewal. The process had been developed over a number of years and enabled automatic renewal of quotas if three conditions were met:

the strike limits had not changed
the Scientific Committee advised that these strike limits will not harm the whale populations
the Commission determined that the ASW governments have complied with the agreed timeline and the information provided represented a status quo continuation of the hunt.

The Commission agreed that all three conditions had been met and the quotas were renewed by consensus on the first day of their 2024 meeting. The successful and efficient implementation of the new process was welcomed by both the Commission and representatives of the hunting communities, all of whom acknowledged the difficult history and hard work that had led to these very significant steps forward at IWC69 in 2024.

Read about the Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Working Group

The ASW Working Group and a new approach

In 2012 and following difficult discussions regarding the renewal of ASW quotas, the Commission established an ASW Working Group. The group was asked to consider a complex range of long-standing issues, including removing ASW catches from political discussion, and questions related to local consumption v commercialism.

The group was chaired by Dr Mike Tillman of the US and comprised of the four ASW member countries (Denmark, Russia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the United States, and four other IWC member countries (Argentina, Austria, Japan, and Switzerland). Two members of the IWC Scientific Committee (from Australia and Norway) were also members of the group, supported by the IWC Secretariat.

The group completed its task in 2018. Acknowledging the scale of the challenge and extensive efforts of all members of the group, and paying particular tribute to the leadership of Dr Tillman, the Commission endorsed their proposals including:

a new timetable for sharing information from the hunts, and receiving feedback, maximising discussion time and transparency;
agreement that status quo catch limits would be renewed automatically, assuming a series of agreed steps continue to be completed;
a commitment to establish closer ties with international and inter-governmental organisations focusing on indigenous rights.
Commission acknowledged the importance and priority that should be given to the scientific work programmes that support ASW. the value of traditional knowledge, acquired by indigenous communities over centuries. The Commission supported efforts by the Scientific Committee to incorporate this knowledge into its pioneering programme of assessment and review.

In subsequent discussions at its meeting in 2022, the Commission also acknowledged the value of traditional knowledge, acquired by indigenous communities over centuries. and voiced support for efforts by the Scientific Committee to incorporate this knowledge into its rigorous programme of assessment and review.

You can read the first report of the ASW Working Group to the ASW Sub-committee (2012) here.
You can read the 2015 report of the ASWWG expert workshop here.
You can read the 2018 concluding report of the ASWWG workshop here.

ASW Voluntary Fund

The Voluntary Fund for Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) was established by the Commission at its meeting in 2012. The aim of the fund is to assist subsistence hunts in achieving compliance with IWC measures. These measures span a range of issues including hunter safety, reporting processes and weapons improvement programmes which reduce animal suffering and increase efficiency during these hunts.

Read more about the ASW Voluntary Fund.

Further Reading