Under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) approved an overall five-year subsistence catch limit for the Western Arctic stock of bowhead whales based upon the needs of Native hunters in Alaskan villages and in Russian villages along the Chukotka Peninsula. On an annual basis, NOAA Fisheries Service issues the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission the Alaskan share of this quota by regulation. In 2007 Alaska natives consumed 42 whales for subsistence.

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