Where the Whales (and the Buffalo) Roam
It Makes Sense to Restore and Conserve Ecosystems

The February issue of the Smithsonian Magazine includes an article by Leslie Allen on the efforts of American Plains Indian tribes to restore the American prairie ecosystem as they increase the numbers of bison to graze upon it. Fred DeBray is executive director of the InterTribal Bison Cooperative. Thanks to his dedication and efforts, fifty three tribes in 18 states now manage 15,000 bison. According to author Allen, the project has concentrated on restoring the ecosystem through reintroduction of not only bison, but also prairie dogs, and encouraging native plants in place of ploughed fields of grain crops. This is not a "don't touch the bison" project. The tribes sell the meat and use it themselves. There is an effort to encourage people to eat bison instead of beef, and to avoid confining animals inside fences. The restoration of the prairie ecosystem pleases some, and worries others. As in other matters, politics plays a role in acceptance of this approach to living in a traditional manner in harmony with the environment.

The effort to convince the world that whales and seals and fishermen all need to be in balance with those resources that exist farther down on the food chain, is finally gaining a foothold in the general fund of human knowledge. Recent years of feeding ecology research have indicated that cetaceans consume five times the amount of seafood that the human fishing industry does - the numbers are nearly 500 million tons annually, consumed by cetaceans worldwide, to only 90 million tons consumed by humans. It should be obvious to everyone that it is ludicrous to exempt whales from the harvest that man enjoys, because the impact of a growing number of whale stocks on the ecosystem is only going to increase. Fishermen and their consumers will inevitably suffer unless cetaceans are kept in balance with fish stocks and with the people who share that resource.

IWMC applauds the InterTribal Bison Cooperative for their foresight and environmentally sensitive vision. They are treating the land and its resources with respect through the wisdom of their elders. IWMC urges all nations with an interest in the health of marine ecosystems to consider the most holistic of approaches in marine resource management, and to open their minds to the suggestion that for the sake of sustainability and environmental welfare, all parts of the environment must be better utilized and conserved through on-going research. To avoid management by refusal to use an entire class of top predators in a system, is to court disaster in the long term.

Resource use must be demonstrably more than just sustainable in itself; it must be consistently justified through science and must contribute to the welfare of the entire system of which it is an integral part. Modern commercial whaling is being designed to fit this model of an ideal balance of sustainable use and on-going scientific research of local ecosystems in order to assure long term food security. IWMC hopes the world will soon accept this modern vision of conservation for the sake of the world's marine habitats, and all those societies that depend upon them.