BETHESDA, Md. — The federal advisory Marine Mammal Commission had little comment, with no major objection, to an environmental assessment of the Makah tribe’s proposed return to whaling.
The commission — created by the same Marine Mammal Protection Act that covers the Pacific gray whales that the tribe hopes to hunt — wrote that a draft environmental impact statement “meets the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.”
The response has angered anti-whaling activists.
In Joyce, Margaret Owens of Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales, said she was “shocked” by the marine mammal commission’s decision not to comment on the environmental statement.
Earlier commissions, she said, were “nitpicky” in their criticism of fisheries service scientific assumptions.
The marine mammal commission is an independent federal agency charged with oversight of federal policies and practices toward marine mammals.
It has advisory duties only.
The National Marine Fisheries Service — which enforces the marine mammal act — released the draft statement on May 9 and took comment on it through Aug. 15.
The Makah must obtain a waiver from the act, even though they were guaranteed the right to hunt whales and seals in the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay.
