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Help stop the Namibian Seal Slaughter
The gruesome slaughter of tens of thousands of nursing baby Cape fur seals is happening now |
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Namibian Permanent Secretary Nangula Mbako of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources told the media, "There is nothing new, neither interesting ... the issues raised are unfortunately outdated and have become repetitive". Facts on the Slaughter From Seal Alert: Fisheries. Since independence Namibia has doubled fishery catch, landings and quotas, from 300 000 tons to 600 000 tons per annum. When it should have reduced it by 50 per cent in 1990. Bank of Namibia annual report, the fishing industry's contribution to the country's GDP was 5 per cent in 2005. Sealing accounts for 0,01 per cent of fishery exports. Keep up with the latest press at these web sites:
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2007 Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - Web posted at 8:04:05 GMT SEALS living along the Namibian coast are being internationally advertised to trophy hunters, although they are listed as an endangered species under an international convention. Seals are also not on the official list of huntable game species in Namibia. A local hunting operator, Kataneno Hunt, is offering hunting trips to shoot Cape Fur Seal bulls. On the Internet the proprietor of Kataneno Hunt, Heiko Binding, says that "hunting for Cape Fur Seal bulls at the coast not far from Swakopmund can be arranged, ideally with a fishing trip and/or a touristic (sic) trip from September 15 to November 15 only". The seal hunt is offered for 860 euros (about N$8 600) plus travel expenses and a lunch pack. It costs 300 euros (about N$3 000) extra per day for a local professional hunter to accompany the tourist. Accommodation is an additional expense. The website is in German, French and English and two photos illustrate the seal hunt. One photo shows a hunter clad in camouflage gear lying behind a rock on the beach waiting for a seal bull, with a hunting guide next to him and a second photo where a shot bull is being examined. Kataneno Hunt is a registered member of the Namibian Professional Hunters Association (Napha), which has a list of 41 huntable species on its official website, but seals are excluded. The mission statement of Napha says: "Our intent is to ensure and promote ethical conduct, sustainable utilisation of natural resources, and to secure the industry for current and future generations." Napha further "insists that its members provide the highest standard of professional service to international hunting guests. They are expected to hunt strictly in accordance with the ethical principles as stipulated in Napha's Hunting Code. The Hunting Professional (HP) is at all times encouraged to act responsibly towards nature, wildlife and the local population," according to the mission statement. As far as The Namibian could establish, no seal hunting concessions have been issued to any trophy-hunting company. An expert in the tourism and trophy-hunting industry who was contacted yesterday said he was "highly shocked and totally unaware of any seal hunting offered to tourists". According to the South African-based organisation Seal Alert, which discovered the seal trophy hunting and brought it to the attention of The Namibian yesterday, it was "shocking and harming Namibia's tourism sector internationally." Francois Hugo, who runs Seal Alert, said Namibia advertised the Cape Cross seal colony as the largest in southern Africa for sightseeing tourists in glossy brochures. "Now they are also hunted, but it is not a proper hunt, the seals are very tame along the Namibian coast and are often sleeping on the beach. Is that trophy hunting, never mind ethical hunting principles?" Hugo was in Windhoek at the end of last week to give a presentation on how seal culling could be stopped in Namibia, which was attended by over 30 marine experts and scientists and officials from the Ministries of Fisheries and Environment and Tourism. * Last month, the South African Sunday newspaper Rapport alleged that another business, Cape Cross Lodge, was organising seal-hunt expeditions. In that case, the manager of Cape Cross Lodge, Leon Swanepoel, said the story was "wrong" and the the information "twisted". Namibia's Seal Hunting Season Begins Amid War of Words WINDHOEK, Namibia — Namibia's annual seal hunting season started this week, over the protests of animal rights activists who say the practice is cruel. The government accused the activists of "deliberately distorting information," and said controlling the seal population was important for both the fishing industry and to the people who worked in jobs created by the hunt. The sparsely populated southern African country is famous for its wildlife and desert scenes along its Atlantic coastline, known as the Skeleton Coast. The estimated 850,000 seals live on a group of islands off the southern coast. The hunt started July 1 and runs for five months. The start follows an announcement by the government last week allowing for 6,000 adult males to be killed and upping the figure for pups by 20,000 from 2006 to 80,000. The government argues the seals are consuming 900,000 tons of fish a year, more than a third of the fishing industry catch. The fishing industry's contribution to the country's GDP was five percent in 2005, according to the Bank of Namibia's annual report of 2006. The government maintains that the country's seal population is healthy and hunting will not lead to the extinction of the species. But Seal Alert calls the method — clubbing, to maintain the quality of skins — inhumane, and points to other aspects of the hunt it says are cruel or unnecessary. Seal skins are used for leather goods and furs while the carcasses are disposed or turned into animal feed. Seal Alert spokesman Francois Hugo also accused the government of barring press from the hunting areas to keep the world from focusing on it. Culling of seals in Namibia goes relatively unnoticed compared, for example, to the large hunts for the white harp seal in Canada. Moses Maurihungirire, director of resources management in the fisheries and marine resources ministry, could not confirm there was an official ban on reporters in the hunting region. But reporters have found it difficult to get access to the remote and well-guarded sites. "Namibia is culling nursing pups still suckling on their mothers' milk, which have nothing to do with fish," Seal Alert's Hugo said. "The sealers are targeting male pups, which are bigger than the female. The irony of the matter is it is allowing the breeding cows to mate and raise their babies while consuming the same fish it says it is protecting. Namibia is just creating a surplus of female breeders," he added. Nangula Mbako, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, said the government would not be deterred by Seal Alert's objections. He said Namibia used its natural resources in line with U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines. He said nations' economies "are hinged on the exploitation of living natural and nonliving natural resources. "The rural poor, women, children and the most vulnerable societies are the ones mostly affected by withholding exploitation of sustainably managed resources such as seals," said Mbako, adding that the seal culling industry created 149 jobs. Hugo said the Namibian government was trying to push fish catches to levels of three decades ago of above 1.5 million tons a year. "This is now impossible, as the government keeps on increasing the fishing quotas. It's not the seals that are at blame here. It's the many trawlers on its waters," he said. Namibia: Govt Pans Seal Rights Body New Era (Windhoek) 5 July 2007 Posted to the web 5 July 2007 Petronella Sibeene Government has slammed animal rights body 'Seal Alert South Africa' and strongly defended its annual seal harvest, saying it is meant to preserve the ecosystem and economically benefit society. In a strongly worded statement, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources on Wednesday accused Seal Alert South Africa of rumour-mongering and falsifying information about Namibia's seal harvest. Cabinet approved an annual seal quota of 80 000 pups and 6 000 bulls for the new culling season which commenced last Sunday. The seal harvesting season is from July 1 to November 15 each year. Last year's mass die-off of seal pups was an indication that the quota should be reduced from previous years, when the quota was higher, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said last week. Cabinet further approved that no selective harvesting of pups would be allowed. Even though this year's quota is lower, Seal Alert South Africa feels that it is still mass annihilation of sea animals. Fisheries and Marine Resources Permanent Secretary Nangula Mbako yesterday said that Namibia upholds and respects the opinions of animal welfare and conservation organizations. "But we are also aware of the fact that some individuals are opportunistically using this platform as a conduit for harnessing financial resources," she said. Seal harvesting, as with all living natural resources in the country, is conducted in line with the principles of sustainable utilization, as advocated by the "Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries" of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Mbako further said terminating the life of seals is not unique in as much as the same is practiced at abattoirs with cattle, chickens, birds, lambs and pigs, among others. Seal harvesting is an economic activity and cannot be stopped. The industry sustains about 140 jobs. Mbako said that in 1995, the ministry invited any entity that would provide any alternative approach for harvesting seals, but to no avail. "We have been waiting to hear from them after numerous requests to provide alternatives to the subject of their complaints. They have failed to be useful," she commented. The permanent secretary reiterated that government believes in sustainable exploitation and utilization of resources. The animals harvested are dictated by the abundance of stock and based on the scientific evidence, necessary measures are taken to balance the ecosystem. "If the stock increases or decreases, measures based on available scientific evidence are taken to ensure balance. We do that with seals and other species," Mbako said. This year, the sustainable management of seals has guided the ministry to reduce the total allowable catch (TAC) of seal pups to 5 000. The step was taken based on the marginal reduction experienced in 2006 when most seals starved. "It will thus be illogical to leave seal abundance unchecked and out of proportion with the rest of the ecosystem components; this will in fact result in their perpetual demise," the permanent secretary added. 2006 Namibia: Seal Culling Season Sparks New Protests, July 5, 2006 From July to mid-November, 7 000 bulls will also be culled [killed] in what is claimed to be the second largest seal harvest in the world. An international campaign, led by conservation group Seal Alert SA, is currently underway in an attempt to ban seal harvesting in Namibia, as was done in South Africa in 1990. "If Namibia and South Africa's Cape fur seals are the same species, why is the population not being managed as such under one policy?" asked Francois Hugo of Seal Alert SA. In the United States, the stabbing and clubbing of nursing pups was prohibited in 1972 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and all imports of Cape fur seal products were banned. In Namibia, seal pups that are still nursing are the chief target for culling. According to Hugo, female seals are not culled, as they have no commercial value. The unnatural increase in the female breeding population was thus caused by human interference, said Hugo in a letter distributed to all relevant institutions in Namibia as well as concerned conservationists across the globe. The sealing quota in Namibia is shared between only two concession holders on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Atlas Bay, where 75 per cent of the seal population is born. According to an investigation by Seal Alert SA, the entire season brings part-time employment to less than 160 unskilled migrant workers and in 2000, when 42 000 seals were culled, the commercial value was less than U$3 per seal. Starvation caused by overfishing led to two mass die-offs since 1990, during which one-third to half of the seal population starved to death, said Hugo. Shortly after the 2000 harvest, which saw Namibia double its sealing quota to 60 000 seal pups, the mass starvation of 300 000 seals was announced, added Hugo. Despite that, the sealing season was extended since sealers were only able to harvest less than half the quota. Since then, hardly any information regarding the seal population, quotas and die-offs had been made public, he said. According to Hugo, the Namibian Government offered the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) an opportunity to buy out the two sealers in Namibia to finally end the culling. The offer was rejected. Namibian seal cull is 'genocide', July 9, 2006 The killing of 60 000 Cape fur cub seals and 7 000 bulls until November is the second largest seal harvest in the world. The largest annual harvest is in the Gulf of St Lawrence in Canada, where 325 000 were culled this year. Namibia's fishing and marine resources ministry has justified its cull arguing the proliferation of seals poses a serious threat to the fishing industry, one of the country's major foreign currency earners and a creator of jobs, saying the high number of seals was depleting fishing stocks. 'Vehemently' opposed to the cull It is estimated that there are between 800 000 and one million seals along the Namibian coast, and around two million along the South. The Canadian seal population is estimated at between five and six million. Animal rights activist were also opposed to the brutal method used to kill seals - clubbing of seal pups and the shooting of adults. Adult bulls are killed for their genitalia, sold in the Far East as an aphrodisiac. Fur coats, gloves and handbags are made from the pelts, and seal oil and carcass meal. Hugo said culling of cubs and males had started at the Cape Cross colony on July 1, while culling at Atlas Bay was postponed. The sealing quota in Namibia is shared between only two concession holders on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Atlas Bay, where 75 percent of the seal population is born. These concessions expire at the end of 2007. South Africa stopped seal harvesting 1990. Cubs were not a threat to the fishing industry or population, said Hugo. "The crazy thing is that for the last 100 years they have been culling seals, except females and this caused an imbalance in the population. "There has been an unnatural increase in the number of females and that is why the numbers are growing. Seals left on off-shore islands do not show growth in population." If seals were dying from starvation it meant that over-fishing was the cause, he said. "We have created this man-made mess. It does not benefit anybody. It is only responsible for 0,01 percent of Namibia's GDP annually, and creates part-time work for only 160 people annually." Hugo has garnered the support of De Beers against this year's cull. In a letter to Seal Alert SA, De Beers said it would raise with the Namibian government the views of the international community, environmental organisations and concerned global citizens with regard to the seal populations of Namibia. The Wildlife Society of Namibia challenged its government to provide data that seals were indeed depleting the fish stocks. "The society queries the whereabouts of the scientific data (if any) which proves that the large number of seals living off our coastline are negatively affecting the fishing industry," it said. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said they were "vehemently" opposed to the cull. "It is unacceptably cruel to cull seals," Ifaw said. This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on July 09, 2006 Response to De Beers letter and more details on the sealing, from Francois Hugo, Seal Alert-SA For more information, visit |
A plea to end the killing...
Martin Sheen speaks out!
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