50 CFR Part 230

SUBCHAPTER D—WHALING
PART 230—WHALING PROVISIONS
Sec.
230.1 Purpose and scope.
230.2 Definitions.
230.3 General prohibitions.
230.4 Aboriginal subsistence whaling.
230.5 Licenses for aboriginal subsistence
whaling.
230.6 Quotas and other restrictions.
230.7 Salvage of stinkers.
230.8 Reporting by whaling captains.
AUTHORITY: 16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.
SOURCE: 61 FR 29631, June 11, 1996, unless
otherwise noted.

§ 230.1

Purpose and scope.

The purpose of the regulations in this
part is to implement the Whaling Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.) by
prohibiting whaling except for aboriginal subsistence whaling allowed by the
International Whaling Commission.
Provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et
seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) also pertain
to human interactions with whales.
Rules elsewhere in this chapter govern
such topics as scientific research permits, and incidental take and harassment of marine mammals.
§ 230.2

Definitions.

Aboriginal subsistence whaling means
whaling authorized by paragraph 13 of
the Schedule annexed to and constituting a part of the Convention.
Assistant Administrator means the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
Authorized officer means:
(1) Any commissioned, warrant, or
petty officer of the U.S. Coast Guard;
(2) Any special agent or enforcement
officer of the National Marine Fisheries Service;
(3) Any officer designated by the head
of a Federal or state agency that has
entered into an agreement with the
Secretary of Commerce or the Commandant of the Coast Guard to enforce
the provisions of the Whaling Convention Act; or

(4) Any Coast Guard personnel accompanying and acting under the direction of any person described in paragraph (1) of this definition.
Calf means any whale less than 1
year old or having milk in its stomach.
Commission means the International
Whaling Commission established by article III of the Convention.
Convention means the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington on December
2, 1946.
Cooperative agreement means a written agreement between the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a Native American whaling
organization for the cooperative management of aboriginal subsistence
whaling operations.
Landing means bringing a whale or
any parts thereof onto the ice or land
in the course of whaling operations.
Native American whaling organization
means an entity recognized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as representing and governing Native American whalers for
the purposes of cooperative management of aboriginal subsistence whaling.
Regulations of the Commission means
the regulations in the Schedule annexed to and constituting a part of the
Convention, as modified, revised, or
amended by the Commission from time
to time.
Stinker means a dead, unclaimed
whale found upon a beach, stranded in
shallow water, or floating at sea.
Strike means hitting a whale with a
harpoon, lance, or explosive device.
Wasteful manner means a method of
whaling that is not likely to result in
the landing of a struck whale or that
does not include all reasonable efforts
to retrieve the whale.
Whale products means any unprocessed part of a whale and blubber,
meat, bones, whale oil, sperm oil, spermaceti, meal, and baleen.
Whaling means the scouting for,
hunting, striking, killing, flensing, or
landing of a whale, and the processing
of whales or whale products.

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National Marine Fisheries Service/NOAA, Commerce
Whaling captain or captain means any
Native American who is authorized by
a Native American whaling organization to be in charge of a vessel and
whaling crew.
Whaling crew means those Native
Americans under the control of a captain.
Whaling village means any U.S. village recognized by the Commission as
having a cultural and/or subsistence
need for whaling.
§ 230.3

General prohibitions.

(a) No person shall engage in whaling
in a manner that violates the Convention, any regulation of the Commission, or this part.
(b) No person shall engage in whaling
without first having obtained a license
or scientific research permit issued by
the Assistant Administrator.
(c) No person shall ship, transport,
purchase, sell, offer for sale, import,
export, or possess any whale or whale
products taken or processed in violation of the Convention, any regulation
of the Commission, or this part, except
as specified in § 230.4(f).
(d) No person shall fail to make,
keep, submit, or furnish any record or
report required of him/her by the Convention, any regulation of the Commission, or this part.
(e) No person shall refuse to permit
any authorized officer to enforce the
Convention, any regulation of the Commission, or this part.
§ 230.4

Aboriginal subsistence whaling.

(a) No person shall engage in aboriginal subsistence whaling, except a whaling captain licensed pursuant to § 230.5
or a member of a whaling crew under
the control of a licensed captain.
(b) No whaling captain shall engage
in whaling that is not in accordance
with the regulations of the Commission, this part, and the relevant cooperative agreement.
(c) No whaling captain shall engage
in whaling for any calf or any whale
accompanied by a calf.
(d) No whaling captain shall engage
in whaling without an adequate crew
or without adequate supplies and
equipment.

§ 230.6

(e) No person may receive money for
participation in aboriginal subsistence
whaling.
(f) No person may sell or offer for
sale whale products from whales taken
in an aboriginal subsistence hunt, except that authentic articles of Native
handicrafts may be sold or offered for
sale.
(g) No whaling captain shall continue
to whale after:
(1) The quota set for his/her village
by the relevant Native American whaling organization is reached;
(2) The license under which he/she is
whaling is suspended as provided in
§ 230.5(b); or
(3) The whaling season for that species has been closed pursuant to § 230.6.
(h) No whaling captain shall claim
domicile in more than one whaling village.
(i) No person may salvage a stinker
without complying with the provisions
of § 230.7.
(j) No whaling captain shall engage
in whaling with a harpoon, lance, or
explosive dart that does not bear a permanent distinctive mark identifying
the captain as the owner thereof.
(k) No whaling captain shall engage
in whaling in a wasteful manner.
§ 230.5 Licenses for aboriginal subsistence whaling.
(a) A license is hereby issued to whaling captains identified by the relevant
Native American whaling organization.
(b) The Assistant Administrator may
suspend the license of any whaling captain who fails to comply with the regulations in this part.
§ 230.6 Quotas and other restrictions.
(a) Quotas for aboriginal subsistence
whaling shall be set in accordance with
the regulations of the Commission.
Quotas shall be allocated to each whaling village or captain by the appropriate Native American whaling organization. The Assistant Administrator
shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER,
at least annually, aboriginal subsistence whaling quotas and any other limitations on aboriginal subsistence
whaling deriving from regulations of
the Commission. These quotas and restrictions shall also be incorporated in
the relevant cooperative agreements.

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§ 230.7

50 CFR Ch. II (10–1–10 Edition)

(b) The relevant Native American
whaling organization shall monitor the
whale hunt and keep tally of the number of whales landed and struck. When
a quota is reached, the organization
shall declare the whaling season closed,
and there shall be no further whaling
under that quota during the calendar
year. If the organization fails to close
the whaling season after the quota has
been reached, the Assistant Administrator may close it by filing notification in the FEDERAL REGISTER.
§ 230.7 Salvage of stinkers.
(a) Any person salvaging a stinker
shall submit to the Assistant Administrator or his/her representative an oral
or written report describing the circumstances of the salvage within 12
hours of such salvage. He/she shall provide promptly to the Assistant Administrator or his/her representative each
harpoon, lance, or explosive dart found
in or attached to the stinker. The device shall be returned to the owner
thereof promptly, unless it is retained
as evidence of a possible violation.
(b) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a stinker has been
struck by the captain whose mark appears on the harpoon, lance, or explosive dart found in or attached thereto,
and, if no strike has been reported by
such captain, such strike shall be
deemed to have occurred at the time of
recovery of the device.
§ 230.8 Reporting by whaling captains.
(a) The relevant Native American
whaling organization shall require each
whaling captain licensed pursuant to

§ 230.5 to provide a written statement of
his/her name and village of domicile
and a description of the distinctive
marking to be placed on each harpoon,
lance, and explosive dart.
(b) Each whaling captain shall provide to the relevant Native American
whaling organization an oral or written report of whaling activities including but not limited to the striking, attempted striking, or landing of a whale
and, where possible, specimens from
landed whales. The Assistant Administrator is authorized to provide technological assistance to facilitate prompt
reporting and collection of specimens
from landed whales, including but not
limited to ovaries, ear plugs, and baleen plates. The report shall include at
least the following information:
(1) The number, dates, and locations
of each strike, attempted strike, or
landing.
(2) The length (taken as the straightline measurement from the tip of the
upper jaw to the notch between the tail
flukes) and the sex of the whales landed.
(3) The length and sex of a fetus, if
present in a landed whale.
(4) An explanation of circumstances
associated with the striking or attempted striking of any whale not
landed.
(c) If the relevant Native American
whaling organization fails to provide
the National Marine Fisheries Service
the required reports, the Assistant Administrator may require the reports to
be submitted by the whaling captains
directly to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

SUBCHAPTER E—TRANSPORTATION AND LABELING OF FISH
OR WILDLIFE [RESERVED]

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