White paper on management and utilization of large whales in Greenland. [Presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission].

Abstract

Within the IWC context, Greenland’s hunt of large whales falls in the category of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) together with the whaling of the Russian Federation, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and the USA. For aboriginal subsistence whaling the IWC has the following objectives: - ensure risks of extinction not seriously increased (highest priority); - enable harvests in perpetuity appropriate to cultural and nutritional requirements; - maintain stocks at highest net recruitment level and if below that ensure they move towards it. The Greenland hunt for large whales respects those objectives.