Stopping the Namibia Seal Slaughter
NAMIBIA
PETITION FOR THE CAPE FUR SEALS NAMIBIA
Seal Alert SA sasealion@wam.co.za
Date: July 1, 2006 11:12:51 AM
Front Page of the Namibian today, 5th of July
26
Subject: Stopping the Namibia Seal Slaughter
which starts July 1st 2006
Ending the Namibian Seal Harvest
Struggling to free itself,
this sealer plunges the knife into the chest of this 7th month old
baby seal,
its mothers milk pours out ..
it continues to wriggle and
suffer long after - 60 000 of them
Since the 14th
Century the slaughter of these baby Cape fur seals still nursing on
mothers milk has continued year after year, after year. The current
Namibian seal slaughter of 60 000 baby seals and 7000 bulls is the
second largest seal harvest in the world. An intensive
investigation by Seal Alert-SA over the past several years has
pieced together a number of issues, that with you help, TODAY -
could help end this slaughter finally.
Sealing used to be conducted exclusively on
islands, but as the seal numbers became depleted from sealing by
1900, seals fled to the desert mainland in northern South Africa
and Namibia. From 1940, sealing activity moved to the mainland
because it was easier to round up and club these baby seals to
death. Within 30 years mainland colonies were growing after sealing
at over 400%. Because females were exempt as no market existed and
mostly the larger male pups were taken in the harvest, creating an
unnatural increased female breeding population. This human induced
population imbalance was turned against the seals and the harvests
turned to purely culling exercises to reduce the population that
humans continued to cause through sealing.
In 1972 the US brought out the US Marine Mammal
Protection Act in which it banned the taking of seal pups still
nursing. 60% of the pups were born on farms belonging to De Beers
Diamond mining company. South Africa which was exporting all its
skins at the time to the US, became to only country in the world to
challenge this act. In 1977 the US Appeal Court upheld the banning
of Cape Fur seal imports. This should have ended the sealing
industry in southern Africa. Instead it was only in 1990, that
South Africa ended sealing.
In 1990, Namibia also became independent, and by this
stage 75% of the seal pups were being born on the mainland. Once
again 60% of these pups were being born in the diamond restricted
area, known as the sperrgebiet, controlled by De Beers. Sealing in
Namibia is undertake by only two concession holders on two mainland
colonies were 75% of the seal pup population is born, were less
than 160 part-time un-skilled migrant workers are employed for a
few months. The 2000 income from 42 000 pups killed was just $85
000 or less than $3 a seal. The sealing quota is divided
between these two concession holders, one at Cape Cross (a nature
reserve) and the other Wolf/Atlas Bay (diamond restricted area).
Since 1990, the seals in these colonies have experienced two mass
die-off's from starvation, due to overfishing, were one third to
one half of the population starved to death.
In 2000, when Namibia doubled its sealing quota
to 60 000 baby seal pups, after the harvest, it announced that 300
000 seals had starved to death in this same year. As the sealers
have only been able to harvest less than 50% of the quota, Namibia
lengthened the sealing season to July the 1st. Which meant even
younger seal babies could be stabbed and clubbed to death.
What You Can Do to Help End
this
In the past few weeks I have been very
busy writing letters, unlike the Canadian Seal Hunt, there is
absolutely no press coverage on this subject, however I have
managed to get a wildlife program called 50/50 on SABC 3, to do a
program on the seals. We need to put certain organizations on
television so that millions of South Africans can hear their
replies to certain questions.
60% of the seals to be killed are situated
within the diamond restricted area of Namibia, known as the
sperrgebiet. De Beers denies that they are involved in culling
seals or that the land belongs to them, more importantly they
refuse to publicly denounce the clubbing of nursing seal pups
within the diamond restricted area. Professor Patti Wickens the
environmental manager for De Beers refuses to be interviewed for
this program. Write to them and demand a public statement on
their position on seal clubbing in Namibia. Stephen.Lussier@debeersgroup.com
; Daniel.Kali@debeersgroup.com
; Ndeshi.Hangula-shikwambi@debeersgroup.com
; Christine.DuPlessis@debeersgroup.com
; Patti.Wickens@debeersgroup.com
; Graham.Main@debeersgroup.com
; Tom.Tweedy@debeersgroup.com
; Hannes.Britz@debeersgroup.com
; Zerreta.Brendell@debeersgroup.com
; Maria.Kambazembi@debeersgroup.com
; suzette.Plantema@mhs7.tns.co.za
De Beers also says that we must take this
up with the Minister of Fisheries, so write to both the South
African and Namibian officials involved, and demand that as this is
one population of seals, and as South Africa ended their seal
harvest in 1990, Namibia should do so as well. Demand to be
told why still nursing baby seal pups are allowed to be killed when
the population has already suffered two mass die-off's from
starvation. aiyambo@mfmr.gov.na
; boelofsen@mfmr.gov.na
; bvanzyl@mfmr.gov.na
; Antonio.Tavares@fao.org
; hkleinschmidt@feike.co.za
; rlittle@wwfsa.org.za
; skirkman@botzoo.uct.ac.za
natparks@africaonline.co.zw
; mostmah@lycos.com
; research@kws.org
; abdelhamidkarem@yahoo.fr
; traffic@trafficint.org
; traffic@wwfsarpo.org
; trafficza@uskonet.com
; shaund@robben-island.org.za
; mwillemse@deat.gov.za
; clenders@deat.gov.za
; stoffelf@pprotect.org
; garyp@pprotect.org
; LawrenceM@pprotect.pwv.gov.za
; verne@nelsonmandela.org
; akathrada@anc.org.za
; jbell@ifaw.org
; dnel@wwf.org.za
; nrockman@pgwc.gov.za
; president@iucn.org
; achim.steiner@unep.org
; adg.ibrahim.thiaw@iucn.org
; Patti.Wickens@debeersgroup.com
According to Dr Van Zyl of the Namibian
Fisheries, the Minister of Namibia offered the International Fund
for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and opportunity to "buy-out" the two
sealers in Namibia and end the seal harvest. IFAW rejected this
offer. I have written to the Oppenheimer family which controls De
Beers to seek their assistance to re-open this offer with Namibia.
The filmmakers have requested Jason Bell of IFAW to comment on this
"buy-out" offer on camera, to date IFAW has refused. Please write
to Dr Van Zyl, bvanzyl@mfmr.gov.na and
Jason Bell, jbell@ifaw.org and
request details of this offer be made public, so that we the seal
supporters can decide. Write to as well, the Minister, aiyambo@mfmr.gov.na and
Dr Little WWF-SA, rlittle@wwfsa.org.za and
De Beers Public relations, Suzette Plantema,
suzette.Plantema@mhs7.tns.co.za and
the De Beers country manager in Namibia, Daniel Kali,
Daniel.Kali@debeersgroup.com.
Please write to other IFAW offices in your area for comments on
this "buy-out" offer.
We also need the media to respond and
write articles, jyeld@incape.co.za
; melanieg@ctn.independent.co.za
; news@namibian.com.na
; helenb@incape.co.za;
fionm@mg.co.za. Dannie
van der Walt vanderwaltdf@sabc.co.za and
Penny at Carte Blanche, Penny@carteblanche.co.za.
You can also write to these two sealers
and tell them that you think that the clubbing of nursing baby
seals is humane and sick for a few dollars of profit. They are Mr
William Burger of Namibia Venison and Marine Exporters (De Beers
diamond restricted area/Wolf/Atlas Bay) Windhoek/Namibia 09264 - 63
203 158 and Mr Albert Brink of Sea Lion Products, furseal@iafrica.com.na
A seal
cow mourns the loss of her clubbed and knifed dead baby seal
pup
There is some good news. Although the
seal slaughter was due to start on 1st July 2006 and although the
sealers have their quotas for this season. Permission to start the
slaughter has been delayed by the Namibian Fisheries Minister, (it
might start next week or the week after). At this time I have no
clear reason why this was delayed, perhaps something positive is
happening - this is the time to really write and put pen to
paper.
Please do so, and together we can end this hunt. Finally, it
saddens me that no-one has taken up the task of staging a Anti-Seal
protest outside the Namibian embassy's, not even here in South
Africa. I know we together can end this hunt, if you just do your
part - I would not be asking if I did not have full belief in your
support.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
