セント・ヴィンセントおよびグレナディーン諸島国バルリーのコビレゴンドウ捕鯨

抄録

　Two kinds of whaling are conducted in St.Vincent and the Grenadines at present. One is humpback whaling at Bequia, the other is pilot whaling at St.Vincent. In this paper, some aspects on the pilot whale fishery in Barrouallie, a leeward town in the island of St.Vincent, are examined. 　The pilot whaling in Barrouallie was started around 1910.The Barrouallie whaleboats were 20 to 24 feet long. They were powered by sail and oars and carried a crew of five. Barrouallie whalemen caught pilot whales and other small cetaceans with hand harpoons and hand lances. A light harpoon gun mounted on a stand bolted to the foredeck was added in 1962, replacing the original hand harpoons.By 1972 all of the boats had been converted to engine power. There were four boats in the early 1970's and two to three boats in the early 1980's. The average annual catch of the pilot whales was 267 in the 1970's. It dwindled to 117 in the 1980's. 　Four boats are operating in 2001. Each boat is equipped with a harpoon gun and gun harpoons, a number of hand harpoons and hand lances. Three men work in a whaleboat.From bow to stern, they are a 'harpooner', a 'working man' and a 'captain'. The most skillful harpooner in Barrouallie caught 70 pilot whales, 25 false killer whales,350 porpoises, 4 killer whales and a Bryde's whale in 2000. According to him, a total of 110 pilot whales were captured by the four boats in 2000. Fresh pilot whale, porpoise and whale meat is sold at the dockside to local middlemen or to individuals for home use. The middlemen sell the meat in the capital, Kingstown, either fresh or corned. 　The average annual catch of the pilot whales has been steady (110 to 120) for the past twenty years. As long as the annual catch of this scale continues, the pilot whale fishery in Barrouallie could be presumed to be a form of sustainable use of living resources.