Attached (below) is the article by Donna Collins of the Windhoek Observer in Namibia.
It is distributed and therefore read on Namibian's inter - national airlines, amongst other places
- if it persuades or re-directs potential tourists to take their hard earned holidays in another country
more akin to protecting than exterminating their wildlife
- then Namibia's Sealing Industry is a liability and not a benefit.
If it convinces just 200 potential tourists annually to stay away from Namibia
- Sealing becomes a major liability.
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
*.*.*
Seal clubbing gets Flack from world Animal Groups
Donna
Collins
In a major effort to
end the last baby seal hunt on earth, which is currently taking
place in Namibia, Seal Alert-SA and animal activist supporters will
be holding a legal protest this Friday outside the Namibian High
Commission in Pretoria to demonstrate and call a halt to this mass
killing.
"
I
have urged the Namibian Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources
Mr Abraham Iyambo to use this opportunity to come in line with
international standards and norms and like South Africa did in 1990
- and announce the end to sealing," said Francois Hugo (Seal Alert
SA).
To date an estimated 20 000 nursing pups have been clubbed to death
since the official start of the Namibian 2006 Seal harvest season
granted by the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources on 1
July.
And with approximately 630 baby seals and bulls clubbed, stabbed
and shot to death daily in what has been dubbed the biggest and
cruelest hunting the world. International animal rights groups are
outraged and pushing for an end to the slaughter.
Seal Alert-SA is supported in this call to "End the Last Baby
Seal
Hunt on Earth" by over 12 million supporters from organizations
and
Individuals in over 140 countries around the world.
An anti-seal cull demonstration staged outside the Namibian Embassy
in London, coupled by glaring headlines and images of sealers
swinging their clubs against the heads of the innocent printed in
international media, is marring Namibia's image.
The actual ‘official’ figures of the cull is unknown, according to
Hugo who has been dubbed the "seal man" but he reckons that if the
Ministry is to reach its quota of 85 000 by Nov 15, then they must
kill at least 630 seals every day - and by this week the death toll
on nursing pups will be at least 20 000.
Making mention to Albert Brink who runs the Cape Cross culling
operation, Hugo called Brink a “killer” in one of his emotional
outbursts, saying. “The man is a killer of nursing baby seals -
that is not "sealing" and he should be ashamed of himself”.
Meanwhile Brink a Namibian seal concessionaire cancelled an
interview with the Observer reporter at short notice who requested
a tour of the factory and comment on the sealing.
He is the owner of a high tech Sea Lions factory at Henties Bay,
which markets products made from the
thousands of seals killed each year at the coast.
With the export
of different parts, as well as an abbetoire and processing plant
with laboratories for the bottling and manufacturing of oils,
capsules, creams and cosmetics, a tannery, a shoe factory, a
leatherwear factory, a canning factory, a research laboratory, he
has a thriving business.
Brink
was behind the increased sealing quota of 60 000 to 85 000 to meet
the demands of the industry.
"We must look at
the sustainability of the industry and view it as another type of
farming," he said. "I mean what is
the problem - we are killing sheep and cattle every day - so why
not seals."
“I’ve been dealing with this for 20 years, and the whole thing is
blown out of proportion by the media,” said Brink adding. “Just go
to an abattoir and see how much blood there is - why just because
it is a bunch of seals, is there such a commotion,” Brink told the
reporter over the phone.
Hugo slammed this saying seals are wildlife and their plight of
starvation and annual clubbing reflects a long sad tale of
mismanagement, abuse and interference with nature's balance.
He said that Brink is making money out of the country’s natural
resources and only thinks of his pocket, nothing else. “How can you
compare the clubbing of thousands of seals to the cattle industry,”
he stated.
“Firstly a sheep farmer buys his land and sheep, pays for their
feed and medication, plus breeds them for this purpose and then
kills them in a Controlled way (not even sheep breed for slaughter
gets clubbed over the head - no farmer in his right mind kills his
nursing baby calves) why -because he would go out of
business.
"Seals are not bred to be slaughtered
they are wildlife"
“Seals are protected marine mammals, who belong to everybody and
are not there for just for Brinks financial greed," he slammed.
"And seals are not bred to be slaughtered they are wildlife.
“If Brink, wants to slaughter seals, buy some land, fence it, buy
seals, feed them, medicate them, be responsible for any disease
out-breaks - keep them confined.
“If he can then run a profitable business on these terms alone -
good for him.
“But till then seals belong to everybody and everyone will have a
say in how they are protected and killed.
“I am only getting started, but I am going to put an end to
Namibia’s seal culling for once and for all,” said Hugo. "Namibia
is the only sealing country to still kill commercially baby nursing
seal pups and we must end it now."
On July 1, Namibia started its annual harvest of 85 000 pups and
6000 bulls.
Minister Abraham Iyambo of the Namibian Fisheries and Marine
Resources has stated that seals are harvested in Namibia in
accordance with Article 95 (1) of the Constitution which requires
the State to adopt policies aimed at "the utilization of living
natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all
Namibians".
The Namibian 2006 seal pup production is according to Minister
Iyambo is 27% below pre-1993 population levels and this year's TAC
(Total Allowable Catch) pup quota is 68% higher than 1994
quota.
Since Namibia's independence in 1990 - the Cape fur seals in
Namibia have experienced mass die-offs from starvation and or
disease in 1994, 1995, 2000
and 2001, and in 2006 and claims are made that the population has
still not recovered.
Meanwhile the Clubbing season which ends in November to make sure
the quota for 2006 of 85 000 nursing pups and 7 000 bulls is filled
is in full swing at Cape Cross as well as the restricted areas of
Wolf and Atlas Bay.
The Observer reporter spoke to a Simon
Pope from a large animal rights organisation presently visiting the
country who previously visited Cape Cross during the culling
season. Explaining in gruesome detail how it works. "It's not a
pretty sight". And to quote him he said. "The animals are chased
into a corridor by two groups of clubbers who bash away at these
creatures heads - hopefully to cause instant death - but I doubt
that always.
"You can imagine how accurate the blows must be after swinging that
club for a couple of hours - their arms get pretty tired I am
sure," he said cynically.
"This is still considered the cruelest method by world standards -
and when they have finished their nasty business they cover the
blood splattered beach sand with more sand so the tourists can walk
in and view the lovely seal colony.
"I had the misfortune of stepping into one of these freshly covered
area's and was up to my ankles in blood. Many people in Europe
won't come to a place where the people are hammering their animals
to death, so it must have an effect on the country's tourism I am
sure."