Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
Return the
"robben" to their Robbenisland
A far simpler policy, would be to unbanned the islands, and
baby seals would not then wash off annually from small restricted
awash rocks.
THANK YOU EARLE BINGLEY CVFA FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ALL
ANIMALS INCLUDED THE CAPE FUR SEALS IN SA
Latest email Francois Hugo Seal
Alert-SA: Jan 19-22, 2007 :
UNITED NATIONS - Sea Shepherd etc.
The Business of Saving the Cape Fur
Seals I -
II
CONGRATULATIONS
Edward you got the "ADOBE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD"
for your Seal Alert clip in www.sealalert.org
Francois 27 Nov 06
Seal Alert-SA Baby Seal Rehab Centre
under Construction
Help With Baby Seal Centre
CanadianVoiceForAnimals NEW
Show you
care for the cape fur seals wear this
T-shirt
Petition and
Paypal
"A WONDERFUL FEELING "GIVING A YEAR OF MY
LIFE"
For the Seals,
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
1. On-line
petition Stop-the African-seal-hunt:
http://www.petitiononline.com/STASH06/petition.html
2. On-line
petition to Namibia:
www.harpseals.org/helpstop/protest_new/namibia_email.php
3. On-line
petition
Return the
"robben" to their Robbenisland
Artist Ger van de Geer Holland gvandegeer @
hotmail.com
Voice of
the Voiceless
I am the voice of the
voiceless:
Through me, the dumb shall speak;
Till the deaf world's ear be made to hear
The cry of the wordless weak.
by Ella Wheeler
Wilcox
CAPE FUR SEALS
ARE SHOT AT SEA
IN SOUTH AFRICA
- CALL FOR BAN ON GUNS
Seal Alert SA by Canadian Voice For Animals
English
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CAPE FUR SLAUGHTER CLICK ON THE LINKS
BELOW
& FOR POWER POINT SHOWS.
canadianvoiceforanimals baby Cape Fur Seal Rescue
pps
canadianvoiceforanimals
clubbing.pps
ANIMAL
FOUNDATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
PROTEST THE ANNUAL SLAUGHTER
IN NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA OF THE CAPE FUR SEALS:
Canadian
Voice for Animals.
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org
For
SEAL ALERT – SOUTH AFRICA:
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASealAlert_Index.html
ACTION
AGAINST POISONING
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com
and
Cape fur seal info from the start in
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com
Harpseals.org
www.harpseals.org/helpstop/protest/cape_fur_seal_alert.html
International
Organization for Animal Protection OIPA,
Italy
www.oipa.org/
Seal
Alert-SA by OIPA
Slide have a look at this
!!!
http://groups.myspace.com/capefurseals
http://www.sealalertsa.net/supporters.htm
ARGOS Animal Welfare Society
Thessaloniki, Greece
www.argosgr.org
CIDAG
Coalition,
Greece
www.atlantisnet.gr/cidag
Marchig
Animal Welfare Trust
www.marchigtrust.org/index.htm
Winsome
Constance Kindness Trust
www.thewinsomeconstancekindnesstrust.com
Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society
Sea Shepherd about the cape fur seals south
Africa
Essex Animal
Freedom
essex.a.f@btinternet.com
IFAW
www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=173602
Cornwall's Voice for
Animals.UK
http://www.cornwallsvoiceforanimals.org/SealAppeal
and
http://www.sealalertsa.net/
included beautiful music and 1 year of hard
work
http://www.sealalertsa.net/supporters.htm
Mumkin is the favorite seal of Francois Hugo
Cape
fur seal supporters
Petition
Robben Island for the robben-cape fur seals
PLEASE WRITE FOR THE RETURN OF SEALS TO ROBBEN (SEAL) ISLAND
- CALL FOR ENQUIRY
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 11:47 AM
Subject: Whack, Whack, Whack - Time
for baby Cape fur Seals
Whack, Whack,
Whack
- Time, for baby Cape fur Seals -
Is "Seal Conservation" completely DEAD in southern
Africa?
On 1st July Namibia starts its annual "harvest" or "cull" of 60
000 - still nursing on mother's milk protected baby Cape Fur seals.
It is the only marine protected specie, and the only marine mammal,
to still be commercially killed in southern Africa. Excluded are
great white sharks, seabirds, turtles, dolphins, whales and other
seals. For the next 137 days, seven-month old baby seals will be
rounded up on two mainland seal colonies and driven far beyond the
jurisdiction of the act. One within a diamond restricted area, the
other in a nature reserve and open to paying tourists in the
summer, and where every day a minimum of 430 seals will be clubbed
to death to fill the 60 000 set government TAC quota. Since Namibia
introduced it's controversial doubling of their quota in 2000 -
sealers have not been fairing too well. In 1999 only 6% of the
sealing TAC was exported. In 2000 it was only 69%, and after 42 000
seals were killed, each seal killed earned less than US $3. Perhaps
it was because of the repeated mass die-off's the seals have been
experiencing in 1988, 1994 and 2000. Where one third to one half of
the population has starved to death. 60% less pups were born in the
proceeding years and at least two consecutive years where entire
cohorts of pups failed. Even the lengthening of the sealing season
to July the 1st, where baby seals will now be clubbed to death one
month earlier, has not had the desired effect in 2001, where
sealers only harvested 34% of their 3 year rolling quota. To
compound matters even further, Namibia exported 112 000 skins in
2002, twice the number of the government TAC quota, without a CITES
export permit, consent or approval. Prompting CITES to consider
whether or not Cape Fur seals should be selected for a Review of
Significant Trade. Even stranger, South Africa who announced an end
to its commercial sealing in 1990, secretly continued to seal and
export thousands of seal skins in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2001, with
CITES approval. Since 2001, there has been complete silence on
populations, mass die-off's, harvest quotas or media
exposure.
Namibia now has the distinction of having the second biggest seal
harvest in the world, but unlike other sealing countries, as its
CITES harvest exports show and as confirmed by the Namibian
Ministry of Fisheries, sealing is conducted on only two mainland
seal colonies who together are responsible for 75% of the Namibian
pup production. Although it is claimed this is a sustainable
utilization of a resource under the constitution, the sealing
harvest records since independence show on average sealers only
reached between 6% and 80% of the government set TAC quota - which
means, every seal pup that was born in these colonies, was killed
and still they could not reach the TAC set, even with an lengthened
sealing season. In simple terms, Namibia is killing every pup born
in other words an "animal genocide" of all baby seal pups.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA has been investigating the
"conservation" of seals, or the lack of it, since 1999. To date all
questions raised has remained either unanswered, ignored or simple
lied about. Perhaps someone out there can take up the challenge and
provide the answers to what is happening to this species of seal,
first discovered on the Cape west coast on offshore islands over 5
million years ago.
1 Is the Cape fur seals in South Africa and Namibia one specie,
that migrates between both countries, if so, why is it not being
managed as one species, with a common policy?
2 Has there been in existence for decades a policy to disturb and
ban seals from former historical breeding island colonies (when
seabird conservation or status was of no concern during their
intensive guano harvesting days), and is this the reason why to
date the largest, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest islands have
remained extinct to seals, if so, on what legal and scientific
basis was this policy initiated and approved initially?
3 Since becoming a protected specie in 1973, southern Africa has
commercially killed over 1.5 million baby seals, still nursing,
over and above those killed in commercial fisheries or through
natural predation or mortality, yet has not the US Marine Mammal
Act, the US appeal court and US NOAA fisheries declared that the
harvesting of nursing baby seals to be inhumane, and have therefore
banned all imports into the US since 1977?
4 In 2000, Namibian fisheries admitted in their press release
referring to the 300 000 seals that had starved to death, "The food
dependent deaths of the seals is not surprising if it is kept in
mind that the females suckle their pups on the colonies from birth
to weaning. This is a period of about 10 months". (The lengthened
sealing season since 2001, starts on July 1st, when pups are aged
7-months or less)
5 Is it true to say that 75% of the seal population, all the
mainland populations of seals, fall outside the jurisdiction of the
Seal Protection Act, and therefore all permits to harvest seals
beyond the high-tide mark are actually invalid?
6 Confusion has surrounded whether this clubbing of baby seal pups
is a harvest or a cull, to appease the fishing industry's
consistently declining commercial fish stocks, if it has been a
cull, what threat do nursing baby fur seals pose to fish-stocks and
how does this reduce the foraging population of seals in the TAC
fishing year?
7 Has commercial sealing on the mainland actually lead to an
unnatural increase in the seal population when compared to
non-sealing island populations since 1940, by creating an unnatural
high in female pup numbers and over protection of adult cow seals,
because no viable commercial market exists for females, and sealing
is not commercially sustainable on historic island seal colonies as
it causes direct island extinction?
8 Is it true that adult females were not harvested or culled, as
such culling operation would not be self-financing, if true, is the
commercial harvest of seals therefore to create employment or
simply to self-finance the cull?
9 Has banning seals from islands and the subsequent harvesting of
mostly male baby pups on the mainland's (because they are larger),
the sole cause of all perceived seal population increases or
proliferation issues?
10 Is it true, that these mammals with intense bonding with their
young pups, are so disrupted and disturbed through each daily hunt,
that the entire colony flees and do females return to mourn the
death of their young?
11 Is it true that since 1993, the total seal population has been
declining with mass die-off's reported in 1994 and 2000 and in
other years not reported, and therefore should all harvest or culls
not have been immediately stopped?
12 Why are marine scientists refusing to declare publicly that the
Cape fur seal population is declining or report on scientifically
what the causes and effects of the mass death of over 300 000 seals
in 2000 has on the future of the population, for in 1994 El Nino
was blamed and in 1988 a weather abnormality?
13 Has South Africa been harvesting seals in 1992, 1996, 2000 and
2001 or later?
14 Has Namibia exceeded its government TAC quota by 26% in the last
ten years, what action has government or CITES taken?
15 Is it true Namibia offered IFAW a "buy-out" of the sealers, and
did IFAW fail to report this offer to its supporters and instead
use "funded monies" to purchase land for terrestrial
conservation?
16 Did TRAFFIC and IUCN/SSC Wildlife Trade Programme deliberately
hold back vital declining seal population scientific data in 2004
from CITES Animals Committee?
17 Is it true that wildlife organizations have failed in their
reporting or conservation work surrounding Cape Fur Seals?
18 What happened to the 11-member scientific committee's advice in
the 1990 Commission on Sealing, that the Cape Fur seal population
would double to 4 million in 2000, and treble to 6 million in 2010,
when 23 former island colonies still remain extinct.
19 Is it true Greenpeace, World Wide Fund for Nature and
International Fund for Animal Welfare supported United Nations
Environment Program in 1999 to evaluate protocols for the proposals
to cull Marine Mammals?
20 In 2000, Dr Abraham Iyambo, Minister of Fisheries stated, "I
hope that many Namibians will find ways to increase the
contribution of seals to food security and health in Namibia. To
assist in this direction I attach a recipe for several seal
dishes". Ignoring in the process that in 1997, health inspectors
from the department of the Ministry of Health, impounded a large
consignment, in which a sealer was experimenting in turning seal
meat into sausages for human consumption. Mr Albert Brink of Sea
Lion Products, one of only two concession holders in Namibia,
"criticised the move by the health ministry to impound the meat,
saying it was unwarranted as no health certification was
necessary". One has only to read the report by Debbie Mac Kenzie,
"Seal Products may threaten Human Health" to see how dangerous
developments have come in Namibia. http://www.seashepherd.org/editorials/editorial_060504_1.html
Numerous email and letter requests to the Ministers of South Africa
and Namibia, the Public Protector, IFAW, IUCN, CITES, WWF-SA, De
Beers and to UNESCO World Heritage Committee - have all solicited
no response and some cases a confirmation, only to receive nothing
further.
If this is the trend, "of no reply", then clearly, "Seal
Conservation" is a thing of the past - a failed idea or invention.
The question therefore why has the public not been informed of this
and importantly why is millions still being donated by members of
the public in support of such causes? What is next, dolphins,
whales, sharks, seabirds, are we like commercial fish species
witnessing the complete collapse of our marine environment, as an
accept international policy?
A hundred years ago commercial exploitation of the Cape fur seals
on islands caused the near extinction of this five million year old
species, its recovery and displacement onto the mainland has been
touted as one of the greatest marine conservation success stories
this last century, but once again as the century draws to a close,
commercial exploitation has once again threatened the survivability
of this specie, with conservation now turning into the biggest mass
death of repeated mass starvation, the world and this species as
witnessed. Instead of addressing this failed conservation and
"sustainable" exploitation invention, its mismanagement is rather
driven to concealment and animal culls that make no ecological
sense.
For the past five years, I have been rescuing and rehabilitating
days old baby Cape Fur seals in the wild, and I can attest to the
fact that only in their 8th month from birth is there any "first
sign" of a "self-foraging", with full or partial self-surviving
foraging only taking place at the earliest in the 11th month from
birth. It is my observation with baby seals from various colonies
over the years, that during the Namibian Sealing Season, 1st July
to 15th November, over 90% of the pups will still be nursing on
their mother's milk at the time of taking.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
*.*.*.*
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
“Seal Alert - South Africa” OIPA Member League
(OIPA is an NGO Non Governmental Organization associated to
the
UN Department of Public Information)
Contacts:
Francois Hugo
27+ 21-790 8774
sasealion@wam.co.za
President,
Seal Alert – South Africa
www.sealalertsa.net
Seal Alert South
Africa Seeks Ban on the
Annual Namibian Slaughter of the Cape Fur Seals
Seal Alert-SA and Global Animal
Conservation Groups Call On the South African Governments to Ban
the Senseless Slaughter and to Strengthen Laws to Protect
Diminishing Seal Herds
NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA – June 13, 2006
– Seal Alert-South Africa has called on the South African Namibian
Government to prohibit the annual slaughter of the Cape Fur Seals
whose populations have declined by over 50 percent over the past
decade. Seal Alert-SA is also asking that the Government enforce
existing Seal Protection laws and to introduce more effective
legislation to protect the species.
Since 1973, the Cape Fur Seal has been a protected species under
the South African Seabird and Seal Protection Act. However, the
Cape Fur seal population in Namibia is threatened by the practice
of clubbing baby seals and shooting bulls for their penises,
following that country’s independence
Namibia, South Africa - June 15, 2006 - Seal
Alert-South Africa has called upon the world's largest producer of
gem diamonds - De Beers and the Namibian Government to immediately
put in place a moratorium to halt the annual commercial cull of
protected Cape Fur Seals on their properties.
With a recent announcement by Fishing Minister Abraham Iyambo to
slash the fishing industry even more this year, with area and
seasonal closures and a five year moratorium on new fishing rights,
it makes no ecological sustainable sense to keep culling Cape Fur
seals, who are equally effected by the declining fish crisis.
Seal Alert-SA, founder Francois Hugo, said, “The
South African Seals that have been existence for five million years
are slowly disappearing. The preservation of the seals not only
speaks to the issues of animal cruelty and welfare of a protected
animal, it speaks to the protection of the environment for the
benefits of present and future generations. Each year, over 300,000
people visit the seals on offshore islands. If the slaughter is not
curbed soon, there will be no Fur Seals period!”
Seal Alert-SA is calling for the South African
Government to liaise with authorities in Namibia and Angola with a
view to the possible implementation of a unified policy of seal
management.
Seal Alert-SA’s call for an end to the clubbing in
Namibia is supported by animal and wildlife conservation groups,
including Canadian Voice for Animals; International Fund for Animal
Welfare; Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Marchig Animal Welfare
Trust, Action Against Poisoning; Winsome Constance Kindness Trust,
Seals-Turkey, and the International Organization for Animal
Protection OIPA, Italy.
Earle Bingley, president of the Canadian Voice for
Animals whose organization also is involved in efforts to protect
Canadian Seals, said, “We hope that the efforts of Seal Alert-SA
along with the program to support Canadian Harp Seals will generate
an outpouring of global support that will result in governments
implementing humane and environmentally conscious legislation to
protect these creatures who are suffering terribly at the expense
of commercial interests.”
About Seal Alert-SA
Seal Alert-SA was established in 1999, as a direct hands-on
organization to address the imbalances, cruelty and abuse that has
plagued this species for well over 600 years. Our primary roles are
Investigation, Rescue and in the wild Rehabilitation, free of all
forms of confinement. Our ultimate goal is the re-establishment of
the ecology path; this species has been diverted away from. We seek
an effective and meaningful, protected natural balanced marine
environment, which is not based on unnatural animal segregation or
exclusion policies or over protection of one species to the
detriment of another.
More information about the Cape Fur Seals is available at the
following. Please note some of this information is graphic.
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/Baby Cape
Fur_Seal_Rescue
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/clubbing
FOR ALL RECENT UPDATES ON SEAL ALERT
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASA_Meet_Our_Rescues
SEALS ARE SHOT AT SEA IN SOUTH
AFRICA
- CALL FOR BAN ON GUNS -
Earle Bingley of the Canadian Voice for Animals, has kindly
set-up a web-page, where you can go to see the latest campaign
newsletters, you can also view and write a comment in the guest
book at: www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASA_Meet_Our_Rescues
SHOW YOU CARE FOR THE CAPE FUR SEALS, WEAR THIS
T-SHIRT
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Le Petit Chien"
Date: June 15, 2006 12:05:31 PM GMT+01:00
To: Subject: tourist info
Dear sir,
I just viewed the pics on how Namibië clubbes their seals of of
unoccupied little islands.
Seals are forced now to live on the mainland, leaving the islands
empty with no purpose what so ever?
It is a shame that this happens by yóur authority!
Hang on, ...it does not happen during tourist season..., because
you don't want people to know or see?
The pictures of the rounded up seals for clubbing to death are so
offending to people around the world,
that we cannot understand how primitively Namibiën authorities do
carry out there bloodbath on innocent
creatures.
I want strongly and firmly to ask you to think about changing yóur
way of approaching wild life as wróng as yóu do now.
This will bennefit not only defenceless creatures, but also the
many humans who still have love for live.
Have you lost it? Love for live? Or do you only respect your
own...
Let us stop the curse on ourselves by prolonging certain bloody
actions taken !
Let us love and cherrish what we still have left from God's
creation, for now, and our children of the future.
Don't destroy our fellow inhabitants of our mutual shared
planet..
Respectfully,
Le Petit Chien
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Europe
perro10@xs4all.nl
Ger van de
Geer
Seal Alert - South
Africa is calling upon
the Gem Diamond Industry and Namibia to follow South Africa
and stop the Annual Slaughter of Cape Fur Seals
Namibia, South Africa - June 15, 2006 - Seal
Alert-South Africa has called upon the world's largest producer of
gem diamonds - De Beers and the Namibian Government to immediately
put in place a moratorium to halt the annual commercial cull of
protected Cape Fur Seals on their properties. With a recent
announcement by Fishing Minister Abraham Iyambo to slash the
fishing industry even more this year, area and seasonal closures
and a five year moratorium slapped on new fishing rights, it makes
no ecological sustainable sense to keep culling Cape Fur seals, who
are equally effected by this declining fish crisis.
Since 1988 the Cape Fur seals has endured at least
4 separate incidents of mass starvation die-offs, where between one
third and one half of the seal population died from starvation. In
2000, when the Namibian Fishing Minister announced a doubling in
the seal quota, after the increased hunt ended, he announced that
Namibia had experienced its largest die-off to date of 300 000
seals. In response to this the Minister lengthened the Seal Harvest
season to one month earlier and instituted a three year rolling TAC
to give stability to the sealing Industry and facilitate that
sealers could harvest their full quotas.
Since the introduction of the new Namibian Marine Resources
Act of 2000, the Cape Fur Seals have remained the only
protected species to still be harvested commercially by Namibia,
whose list includes many species of seabird, all other marine
mammals, including the great white sharks, all of which, except the
Cape Fur Seals, may not be harvested, disturbed or have their eggs
removed.
In 1990 the South African Commission on Sealing
and the South African Government announced a moratorium on its
commercial sealing policy and was advised that there is no
biological basis to distinguish "Namibian" and "South African"
seals and urged Namibia to implement a unified policy for seal
management. The recent doubling of the quota and increased sealing
season has further bought Namibia into further dispute with the US
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the US Department of Commerce
and the US Fisheries NOAA policies. Since 1977 the US has banned
the imports of seal pelts from South Africa and Namibia, as its
regulations state that the taking of seal pups still nursing is
inhumane.
Although 60 000 pups and 7000 bulls are harvested,
making this the second biggest seal harvest in the world. Namibia's
sealing industry is basically divided between two main concession
holders, who harvest equally Cape Fur Seals within the diamond
restricted area of the sperrgebiet and a nature reserve on the
Namibian mainland, creating part-time employment for less than 160
workers. The fishing rights of these two concession holders is due
to expire at the end of 2007.
As the annual Seal Harvest is due to start on 1st of
July, Seal Alert-SA is calling upon the land owners of
Namibia and the Namibian/De Beers diamond mining partnership
(Namdeb) to seek a ban on all sealing on their mainland
properties.
Cape Fur Seals have existed on the offshore islands along
the coastline of southern Africa, for over 5 million
years, and it is only through sealing on the islands in
the past, which has caused this specie of seal to flee to the
mainland, where today all commercial sealing is undertaken. Seal
Alert-SA therefore urges Namibia to follow the example of South
Africa in 1990, and finally put an end to the Seal Harvest on the
Cape Fur seals in this entire southern African region.
Francois.
Maria Daines
sings for the animals