Subsistence whale quota 'necessary for Alaska'

Renewing a five-year bowhead whale quota for Alaska native communities that rely on subsistence whaling is crucial, the International Whaling Commission has been told.

“It is more than a right – it is an absolute necessity which affects every facet of their well-being,” Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, told delegates of the 76-nation meeting in Alaska. “To deny this history would jeopardise their way of life.”