Bequia whalers may not go after another whale this year

Whalers in Bequia may not go after another whale this year, although they are legally allowed to do so.

Last Saturday, a whaling crew caught two humpback whales, a 42-foot female and a 39-foot male north of Isle A Quatre.

These whales brought the number of mammals caught for the year here to three, as on March 28, a 44-foot 11-inch female humpback was caught by Captain Bruce Ollivierre and his crew aboard the vessel “Perseverance” some one mile south of West Cay.

A fisheries officer said this latest catch was led by captain Kingsley Stowe during the height of the Easter Regatta and it attracted hundreds of persons to the area.

The catch, as did the one in March, caught the attention of Executive Director of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Environment Fund (SVGEF) Louise Mitchell.

She said the decision to catch the whale during the time of the Regatta was bad as many tourists were around, and they recorded the incident.

It must also be noted that the catch shut down most of the regatta’s activities on Saturday and Sunday, showing the whale catching tradition in Bequia trumps everything else.

Mitchell however said the tradition of whaling that she knew when she was growing up has changed.

“It is now modern day whaling and the tradition of whaling in Bequia is an honourable tradition that belongs in the history of Bequia.

“It should be honoured, and the history should be told in the museum. In fact, the Bequia Heritage Foundation has built a museum where the whaling history of Bequia is honoured and told and that is important for our history,” Mitchell told SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday.

She noted also that in her opinion, it was not necessary to kill two whales and she has been hearing rumours that some of the meat from the second whale spoiled.

A fisheries officer told SEARCHLIGHT there were no reports of spoilage.

Mitchell said the quota of four whales is a huge quota and she has been pushing for the government to voluntarily reduce the quota from four to one.

“Meat is spoiling, so I am happy to hear them say they will not be going out for the rest of the year,” Mitchell said while adding that the whalers are being faced with criticism as people saw it happen.

“My position is that it is time to stop whaling but if it has to be done, gradually reduce it from four to one,” Mitchell stated.

Commenting, Director of Grenadines Affairs and the country’s Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Edwin Snagg, said that Mitchell is using every avenue to get the IWC to stop whaling in SVG.

He said she is part of international organisations that try to force their way of thinking on us and that is wrong as persons need to respect our traditions.

Snagg said that neither Mitchell nor anyone else for that matter can escape the whale catching culture as Bequia comes to life with calls of “Blows” when a whale is in sight, and everything else on the island is forgotten.

Whaler Kenrick Decoteau summed up whale catching like this.

“This is we thing. Is same like St Vincent carnival. You could tell a mainland person no carnival?”

“This whole thing go back nearly 200 years so what you want we to do? Just lay down and roll over? Come on….”