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Alaska Beluga Whale Committee Named Environmental Heroes
The Alaska Beluga Whale Committee is receiving a NOAA Environmental Hero Award, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service's Regional Administrator in Alaska, Jim Balsiger.
"This group has made a true difference for belugas in Alaska," Balsiger said.
The Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, which is organized and run primarily by Alaska Native beluga whale hunters, has brought together representatives from beluga hunting communities in Alaska, local, state, and Federal governments, and beluga researchers to discuss conservation issues, the biology of belugas, and the needs for additional information.
The NOAA Environmental Hero Award, given on Earth Day, honors the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee for conservation and responsible management of beluga whales since 1988. The National Award is one of five given in 2002 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to honor individuals and groups who have made a difference for the environment. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"The Alaska Beluga Whale Committee has been a proponent of constructive, responsible co-management of marine mammals in Alaska long before the provisions of section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act were set forth," said Dr. Rod Hobbs, who nominated the group for the national award. "The organization clearly deserves the Environmental Hero Award." Hobbs works for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
In 1988, a group of Alaska Native subsistence hunters and scientists convened to discuss issues regarding conservation and management of beluga whales in western Alaska, Hobbs explained. The group was concerned that unless hunters were proactive and developed a system to report and manage their own beluga whale harvest, a system would be imposed upon them by the National Marine Fisheries Service. This initial discussion prompted the formation of the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee.
At annual meetings of the Committee, Alaska Native hunters and scientists work together to discuss issues related to harvest and management of beluga whales. This working relationship has resulted in mutual trust and a better understanding of the scientific and Alaska Native perspectives on beluga whale biology and subsistence needs.
The extraordinary relationships forged in the committee have made several projects possible. One is a genetic tissue-sampling program, carried out with the cooperation of local hunters. It would be prohibitively expensive to send a biologist to every village in western Alaska to collect the samples.
Other programs and projects include:
Annual, comprehensive harvest reports delineated by village and beluga stock.
Aerial surveys to determine abundance estimates for each of the western Alaska stocks. These estimates are included in NMFS Stock Assessment Reports.
A satellite tagging program which has produced surprising results regarding the migration behavior of the eastern Chukchi Sea stock of beluga whales.
The Committee has recently developed and adopted the Alaska Beluga Management Plan and signed a formal co-management agreement with NMFS under section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act to formalize its management plan.
Many Alaska Native subsistence hunters and other residents of the beluga-hunting communities participate in the field studies, which provides the hunters with a better understanding of the research being conducted and provides the researchers with enthusiastic volunteers.
In November of 2001, the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee held its 10th annual meeting, at which 28 villages from Barrow to Bristol Bay were represented. At the group's 11th annual meeting late in 2002, officials will present the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee with a well-deserved NOAA Environmental Hero Award.
For questions, please contact Dr. Rod Hobbs at (206) 526-6278.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA fisheries) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat. To learn more about the National Marine Fisheries Service in Alaska, please visit http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.
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