50 CFR § 230.1 - 230.8 - Whaling Provisions

68 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 Con vention Act (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.) by prohibiting whaling except for aborigi nal subsistence whaling allowed by the International Whaling Commission. Provisions of the Marine Mammal Pro tection 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 per mits, and incidental take and harass ment of marine mammals. § 230.2 Definitions. Aboriginal subsistence whaling means whaling authorized by paragraph 13 of the Schedule annexed to and consti tuting a part of the Convention. Assistant Administrator means the As sistant 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 Fish eries 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 Com mandant of the Coast Guard to enforce the provisions of the Whaling Conven tion Act; or (4) Any Coast Guard personnel ac companying and acting under the di rection of any person described in para graph (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 ar ticle III of the Convention. Convention means the International Convention for the Regulation of Whal ing signed at Washington on December 2, 1946. Cooperative agreement means a writ ten agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra tion and a Native American whaling organization for the cooperative man agement 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 Na tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad ministration as representing and gov erning Native American whalers for the purposes of cooperative manage ment of aboriginal subsistence whal ing. Regulations of the Commission means the regulations in the Schedule an nexed 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 unproc essed part of a whale and blubber, meat, bones, whale oil, sperm oil, sper maceti, 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. 69 Nat’l Marine Fish. Serv./NOAA, Comm. § 230.6 Whaling captain or captain means any Native American who is authorized by a Native American whaling organiza tion to be in charge of a vessel and whaling crew. Whaling crew means those Native Americans under the control of a cap tain. Whaling village means any U.S. vil lage 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 Conven tion, any regulation of the Commis sion, 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 viola tion 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 Con vention, any regulation of the Commis sion, or this part. (e) No person shall refuse to permit any authorized officer to enforce the Convention, any regulation of the Com mission, or this part. § 230.4 Aboriginal subsistence whaling. (a) No person shall engage in aborigi nal subsistence whaling, except a whal ing 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 Commis sion, this part, and the relevant coop erative 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. (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, ex cept 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 whal ing 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 spe cies has been closed pursuant to § 230.6. (h) No whaling captain shall claim domicile in more than one whaling vil lage. (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 per manent 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 subsist ence whaling. (a) A license is hereby issued to whal ing captains identified by the relevant Native American whaling organization. (b) The Assistant Administrator may suspend the license of any whaling cap tain who fails to comply with the regu lations 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 whal ing village or captain by the appro priate Native American whaling orga nization. The Assistant Administrator shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER, at least annually, aboriginal subsist ence whaling quotas and any other lim itations on aboriginal subsistence whaling deriving from regulations of the Commission. These quotas and re strictions shall also be incorporated in the relevant cooperative agreements. 70 50 CFR Ch. II (10–1–23 Edition) § 230.7 (b) The relevant Native American whaling organization shall monitor the whale hunt and keep tally of the num ber 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 Adminis trator may close it by filing notifica tion in the FEDERAL REGISTER. § 230.7 Salvage of stinkers. (a) Any person salvaging a stinker shall submit to the Assistant Adminis trator or his/her representative an oral or written report describing the cir cumstances of the salvage within 12 hours of such salvage. He/she shall pro vide promptly to the Assistant Admin istrator or his/her representative each harpoon, lance, or explosive dart found in or attached to the stinker. The de vice shall be returned to the owner thereof promptly, unless it is retained as evidence of a possible violation. (b) There shall be a rebuttable pre sumption that a stinker has been struck by the captain whose mark ap pears on the harpoon, lance, or explo sive 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 pro vide to the relevant Native American whaling organization an oral or writ ten report of whaling activities includ ing but not limited to the striking, at tempted striking, or landing of a whale and, where possible, specimens from landed whales. The Assistant Adminis trator is authorized to provide techno logical assistance to facilitate prompt reporting and collection of specimens from landed whales, including but not limited to ovaries, ear plugs, and ba leen 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 straight line measurement from the tip of the upper jaw to the notch between the tail flukes) and the sex of the whales land ed. (3) The length and sex of a fetus, if present in a landed whale. (4) An explanation of circumstances associated with the striking or at tempted 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 Ad ministrator may require the reports to be submitted by the whaling captains directly to the National Marine Fish eries Service. SUBCHAPTER E—TRANSPORTATION AND LABELING OF FISH OR WILDLIFE [RESERVED]