NEAH BAY — The National Marine Fisheries Service has begun a lengthy process that could lead to a new five-year Makah whaling quota.
The agency published an announcement in the Federal Register on Monday that it will conduct an environmental assessment of the effects of issuing a subsistence quota for gray whales to the Makah tribe between 2003 and 2007.
“This is a very preliminary step in a very lengthy process,” said Brian Gorman, spokesman for National Marine Fisheries Service’s Northwest regional office in Seattle.
“This is basically a public notice of an intent to publish an assessment.”
