Whaling family longs to return to the harpoon [1]
Saturday, August 30, 2003 - 10:46. Updated on Friday, February 19, 2016 - 18:11.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.
The late Samisoni Cook was Tonga’s last whaler, but now his family would like to revive the industry.
Tonga’s traditional whaling families would like to see the bans on whaling lifted so that the old industry could be revived and they can return home to a way of life some of them have nostalgia for.
Neti Cook, a son of the last Tongan whaler, Samisoni Cook who died in May, believes that whaling could make an immediate positive impact on the Tongan economy.
Neti returned to the family home in Fasi for his father’s funeral, where he said that they still kept the hand-held harpoons that his father used. His younger brother Saniseti is keen to return to Tonga to revive the family business if government will lift the ban.
Tonga’s whaling industry was operated mainly by the Cook families. Neti said that the two brothers, Samisoni and Kuki Lahi had their own operations and there was always competition to see who would be more successful. However, when government banned whaling in 1978 most of them left for New Zealand because they could no longer make a living Tonga.
Neti still believed that a profitable whaling business could be established in Tonga, for domestic consumption. “I think one whale today could fetch in about $100,000,” he said.
Neti recalled that in the past they were earning about $5000 per whale, “but today with a good set of scales you could earn more than $100,000. In the past someone would ask for a $10 piece and you would just cut him a huge piece,” he said.
Tonga was probably the first country in the world to ban whaling in 1978, and a moratorium to curtail the killing of whales was later introduced by the International Whaling Commission. This moratorium is the only instrument that restricts commercial whaling even though some argue that the moratorium has no teeth because it allows the whaling by aboriginal communities and for scientific research.
Japan the main financier of the International Whaling Commission, is killing about 700 whales annually for scientific research, even though much of the whale meat is known to be used for human consumption. Norway, Iceland and some Caribbean countries are also known to be hunting whales.
Dilemma
The dilemma for Tonga is that while controlled whaling may offer employment, cut imports and provide a source of protein for Tongans, but whale watching and swimming with the whales is currently the most popular water activity for visitors to Tonga, bringing in millions of dollars annually. Hunting the whales will not only reduce the numbers, but tour operators fear that they will become less friendly and may cease to tolerate the very close contact enjoyed by visitors today.