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[lucky]

Frustrated Makah rebels shoot, harpoon whale near Neah Bay
By KOMO Staff & News Services

NEAH BAY, Wash. -- Five members of the Makah Tribe, frustrated by the delay in their efforts to obtain a permit to hunt whales, shot and harpooned a California gray whale on Saturday, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard responded to witness reports of a whale shooting off the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula on Saturday morning.

The agency deployed three ships to the area and created a 1,000-yard safety zone around the injured whale, which is one mile east of Neah Bay, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about a half-mile off shore.

Washington State Patrol troopers also responded.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act outlaws whaling in the United States, but the Makah Tribe of Neah Bay has been fighting to resume whale hunting off the coast of Washington state. They base their request on an 1855 treaty with the federal government, which preserves the tribe's right to hunt whales based on the tribe's history and traditions.

The tribe resumed the hunts in 1999 and successfully killed a whale. Soon after, it stopped in order to go through a federal process to get a permit. But tribal members at Neah Bay on Saturday said some members of the tribe grew fed up with the delays in getting the permit and decided to go hunting.

[Eagleye]

I wonder if they actually make use of it or if it's purely for profit.   I've fished Neah Bay a few times, good for springs but can get a bit heavy on the rollers. 

[speycaster]

The one they shot in 1999 went to waste, seems no one liked the taste of whale meat and blubber.

[troutbreath]

1999 was a while ago and you forget They used a machine gun to finish the whale off, and have been arrested. Was on the news today.

[gheart008]

The reasons why this incident was so illegal are:

1) According to the regulations, the tribe has to first obtain a permit, which these 5 fisherman did not have
2) They are only allowed to use a harpoon from a canoe.  They harpooned the whale from a motorized boat.
3) They are only allowed to use a harpoon to kill the whale.  These 5 used an automatic rifle and shot the whale 21 times.

[bigguy]

This is rediculous.  In our modern times this is not needed.  They are just doing this to spite the courts and the white man! Slap us in the face. What were their plans as far as using the whale?  They should be charged and if the tribe was behind this fined heavily.  Turns my stomache. When do we say enough is enough with the old treaties etc?

[troutbreath]

When I said "they" it's really only a small group of the originall whale hunter/ radical get back to whaling type of people that were out in 99. I consider this like alot of fishing controversy were a small group ruins it for everyone.