PORT ANGELES — The Makah Tribe has submitted a permit application to NOAA Fisheries that will allow it to hunt up to 25 eastern North Pacific gray whales over a 10-year period, starting with one harvest this summer and one in 2027.
The tribe applied for the permit under regulations NOAA Fisheries issued on June 13, 2024, granting the tribe’s request for a limited waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to hunt the whales for ceremonial and subsistence purposes.
Under the permit, the Makah would be allowed two strikes and one landed whale each year. All hunting would take place on the tribe’s customary hunting grounds off the coast of Cape Flattery.
Among the requirements is that the tribe follow rules that lay out safety and humaneness measures informed by public comments in response to the waiver request.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to submit an application for a permit that will allow us to exercise our reserve treaty rights for whaling,” Makah tribal chair T.J. Greene said. “It’s going to be cumbersome, and there’s a lot of administrative hurdles, but if it’s approved, it will allow us to whale this year.”
NOAA Fisheries will open a 45-day comment period today to seek input on the tribe’s permit application.
To submit a comment electronically, go to www.regulations.gov, enter NOAA-NMFS-2025-0025 into the search bar, locate the document and click “Comment Now.”
Mailed comments should be addressed to: NMFS West Coast Region, Protected Resources Division, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Building 1, Seattle, WA 98117.
After it considers the comments, NOAA Fisheries will make a determination whether or not to issue the Makah Tribe a permit. It also could impose more requirements.
“To have a timeline and a goal that’s in front of them certainly gives our people, gives our previous whalers, our families and our communities something to shoot for, something to work toward, and it’s just a really good feeling,” Greene said.
The Makah Tribe secured the right to hunt whales at its “usual and accustomed grounds and stations” in the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay. It stopped harvesting whales in 1928 as the animals’ population declined due to commercial whaling. More than 70 years later — on May 17, 1999 — the Makah successfully hunted a gray whale.
Although once listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the eastern North Pacific gray whale was delisted in 1994. According to NOAA Fisheries, the current population stands at 19,260.
Since 2005, the Makah have been pushing back against an MMPA moratorium on hunting marine mammals so it can resume whale hunting. Concerns about the humaneness of the hunt dominated public comment last year when the Makah applied for the waiver.
Whales and seals were the Makah’s primary food source before contact with Europeans, Greene said. Hunting a whale under the MMPA rules will require balancing the tribe’s traditional foodways and modern methods that use high-caliber rifles and motorized chase boats intended to minimize pain and suffering of the animal.
“The Makah Tribe’s put a lot of effort into this in the ’90s leading up to the ‘99 whale hunt that was successful,” Greene said. “We worked with biologists who are experts in anatomy and veterinarians to establish the most effective and humane way to kill a whale and trained riflemen to understand the anatomy.”
The whale hunt is an essential element of the Makah identity, Greene said. They are prepared to take the long view to ensure it isn’t lost.
“We’re certainly moving forward in a very conscientious way,” Greene said. “We understand there may be hiccups in this process, but it’s taken us 20 years to get to this point, and we certainly have had the patience and wherewithal to wait a little longer.”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
