NAMIBIAN
SEAL SLAUGHTER
–
GENOCIDE OF CAPE FUR SEALS
Unlimited
vast deserts and an annual quota of 300 days of sunshine, is
exactly what draws travellers to one of Africa's most intriguing
destinations - Namibia. However, what these travellers do not get
to see, is the second largest, and what the ex-director of
IFAW-South Africa has called, the cruellest seal 'hunts' in the
world. A 'hunt which will see tens of thousands of seal pups killed
by clubbing, bow and arrow and by being stabbed in the chest. Many
of these baby seals will still be suckling on their mothers when
they are massacred, with milk pouring from their young
mouths..........
(PHOTOS
OF SEALS BEING CLUBBED, STABBED ETC HERE)
The
Cape Fur Seal, a 5 million old species, is a direct ancestor of the
Australian Fur seal. A long time ago several swam all the way from
South Africa to Australia where they thrive today. Due to gross
mismanagement and vested interests within the Namibian Fisheries
Ministry, this species is rapidly heading to extinction.
Australians can put pressure on South Africa to stop this horrific
cull right now on a season that just started July 1,
2006.
CAPE
FUR SEAL GENOCIDE
1.
This year Namibian Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo has increased
seal quotas amounting to a 100% cull of baby seals i.e. 85,000
(taking into account that there is a 30% newborn death rate). In
2005 the quota was 65,000 yet one of the two sealer concessionaires
could only meet 80% of the TAC killing every pup.
Leading South African Marine and Coastal Management scientist and
advisor to the Minister stated "There is no way the sealers will
reach their quota". Meanwhile sealers have been petitioning the
Namibian government for higher quotas because otherwise many will
be laid off and have to return home without any income for the
year.
The Cape fur seal population has already suffered mass die-offs in
1994 and 1995 each resulting in 1/3 to ½ of the population dying
due to starvation. Namibia should have ended sealing then.
In 2000 Namibia doubled its sealing quota to 60,000 and one month
after sealing season had ended 300,000 seals starved to death. Once
again, Namibia should have ended sealing.
Instead, the following year, because sealers had only met 50% of
their TAC, the sealing season was extended so younger seal babies
could be slaughtered.
The current seal population is down 27% from 1993, yet the quota is
68% more than the 1993 quota.
Yet the Minister claims: “The annual harvest of seals is in line
with the country’s laws and accepted international conservation
principles and practices and that its management strategy was aimed
at ensuring the sustainable uses of the marine resource under the
constitution.”
Chief Director of Research, Antarctic and Islands - Dr Augustyn
claims an "increased" growth across the board for the Cape Fur Seal
population from 1972 to 2004. Based on his logic, as long as the
seal population remains higher than the first count in 1971 the
seal population is increasing and is of "no concern". There has in
fact been no overall increased growth, but in fact, a decline in
the total seal population since 1997. This is madness, because it
ignores all "scientific and conservation" trends over the past few
decades and most importantly it ignores trends in the mainland
sealing population.
Namibia is only entitled under its constitution to harvest seals in
a "sustainable manner" – this irresponsibly high cull of baby seal
pups is therefore illegal and the minister should be brought before
cabinet to answer why he recommended this increase.
CORRUPTION
WITHIN NAMIBIAN FISHERIES
2.
The sealing quota is divided between two concession holders, one at
Cape Cross (a nature reserve) and the other at Wolf/Atlas Bay
(diamond restricted area). Wolf/Atlas Bay is where 60% of Namibian
seals are killed.
One of the partners at Cape Cross Lodge, the only privately owned
land on this coast with a beachfront whose main attraction is the
world’s biggest mainland seal breeding colony, is Namibian
fisheries Marine Resource Director, Dr Burger Oelofsen. Dr Oelofsen
said in 2000 "We know they are going to die, so why not harvest
them? We cannot afford to let them go to waste".
At the lodge sealers kill seals from 5am-10am then it’s open to the
public from 10am-5pm, July to November. They make money from the
people killing seals and money from the seal-watching tourists (who
have no idea what is going on). Trophy hunters go in and kill seals
with bows and arrows.
Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Instead of protecting marine
wildlife and adopting sustainable practices, the Marine Resource
Director chooses instead to round the “worthless seals” up and kill
them. What kind of marine wildlife management is this?
NURSING SEAL PUPS ILLEGALLY KILLED
3. Namibia is the only country in the world that permits the
commercial slaughter of nursing seal pups. Even Canada, Greenland,
Norway and Russia ban it. In 1972 the US introduced the US Marine
Mammal Protection Act which banned the import of seal skins from
South Africa where nursing seal pups were taken on grounds of
cruelty. Over 1 million nursing pups have been taken inhumanely
since 1972 in Wolf/Atlas Bay.
In addition, pregnant seals have been illegally killed.
ILLEGALLY
ISSUED SEALING PERMITS
4. According to the Seabirds and Seals Protection Act no 46 of
1973, all commercial sealing of this Marine Mammal has occurred
beyond the jurisdiction of the "acts" which end at the "high-tide"
mark and have occurred on privately owned land, therefore making
the awarding of these "seal harvesting" permits illegal. All
permits/rights should be revoked immediately.
CRUELLEST
SEAL SLAUGHTER IN THE WORLD
5. The Namibian seal slaughter of 85,000 baby seals and 7,000 bulls
is the 2nd
largest
seal slaughter in the world and is also the cruellest. After being
separated from their mothers and rounded up, the seals are clubbed
over the head or have a knife stuck in their helpless chests or
hunted with bows and arrows for trophies, many skinned alive.
In 2000 the sale of 42,000 pups ? 48,000? yielded $85,000 or less
than $3 per seal. So much suffering for so little economic
benefit.
This horrific suffering comes on top of already being starving.
Starving seals crawl ashore too exhausted to move where seagulls
peck out their eyes. Then in addition they get stabbed, clubbed and
skinned alive. Some 500,000 - 700,000 seals are starving with
20-25% less blubber on their bodies and ribs
protruding.
COLLAPSE
OF FISH STOCKS DUE TO SEALING
6.
Fisheries blame seal for eating all the fish since there have been
no fish in the area for 3 years. Yet culling only babies and adult
males (the females have no commercial value) means there are more
breeding females therefore more pups to cull the next year. The
problem is caused by sealing, not by the seals who have existed
harmoniously with the fish in the sea for 5 million years.
The Namibian government has not managed fisheries sustainably and,
like Canada, is now blaming the seals. Yet after South Africa
stopped sealing in 1990 at its only mainland colony, the seal
population - the largest mainland colony in the world - actually
declined and has seen no further growth. Cape Cross in Namibia has
become the largest seal colony in the world - the direct result of
sealing.
The following graph shows offshore colonies (yellow) compared to
mainland colonies (green). The mainland colonies have been heavily
sealed yet their seal population far exceeds that of offshore
islands where there is no sealing. Clearly, the collapse of fish
stocks is caused by sealing, not seals who eat fish. No matter how
many fish seals eat, they give back to the ecosystem as they have
for millions of years.
SEAL
EXPORTS EXCEED QUOTAS
7. From 1992 – 2002, Namibia exceeded its official TAC seal quota
in gross exports of fur skins by 84,479 (26% over). It was in this
period that the Namibian seal population fell 50% from 922,396 to
476,074.
At the 20th Meeting of the CITES Animals Review Committee meeting
in Johannesburg 2004 a report prepared by TRAFFIC and the IUCN/SSC
Wildlife Trade Program revealed that Namibia exported 37,019 skins
in 1995 (117% over quota), 42,611 skins in 1996 (109% over quota),
2,124 skins in 1999 and 48,686 skins in 2000 (115% over
quota).
In 2002 Namibia doubled its seal skin exports to over 112,000 skins
though the annual quota was 60,000. As Namibia has not notified the
CITES Secretariat of this export quota, perhaps CITES should select
this species for a Review of Significant Trade since sealers are
not following TACs.
SEAL
POLICY BETWEEN S. AFRICA AND NAMIBIA
8. Though South Africa stopped killing the Cape Fur seals in 1990,
Namibia didn’t. A total of 88% of this species are found on the
Namibian mainland. There needs to be implemented a unified seal
policy so the species doesn’t go extinct. At the South African
Commission on Sealing in 1990, the committee recommended that the
Cape fur seals should be managed as one population, as there is no
biological evidence to distinguish between the seals who migrate
between South Africa and Namibia. These seals are red listed with
CITES appendix 2.
BANNED
FROM BREEDING ISLANDS
9.
For 5 million years Cape Fur seals thrived on 23 island colonies
especially Robben Is. Since 1940 seals have been banned from their
natural breeding islands causing unnatural coastal breeding so 75%
(88%?) of the seals are on the mainland which has no protection
under the Seabirds
and Seals Protection Act no 46 of 1973 because
the seals are only protected up to the high-tide area.
Banning seals from islands and displacing them to mainlands (80
times more space) in the oldest desert and least populated country
in the world, has been one of the greatest mismanagement blunders
of marine wildlife this past century. The seal cull in Namibia has
been a complete scientific and management failure.
Far from being a sustainable utilization of a resource, it has
created an imbalance in the breeding population leading to a
population explosion that has cost the fishing industry (formerly
one of the world’s most productive fisheries) over half a million
tons fish annually exceeding N$30 billion (AUD$6.5 billion) losses
in the last 16 years. Income derived from seal culls = 0.02% of
fishery income.
Of course the reason for driving the seals to the mainland was so
they could be conveniently killed outside the jurisdiction of the
law that states that the commercial cull of seals on offshore
islands is a “non-sustainable utilization of a resource” as it
directly causes colony extinction. Therefore under the
constitutions of both South Africa and Namibia, sealing on offshore
islands would not be permitted.
SEAL
MEAT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION?
10. Because there is little demand for illegally killed seal pups
the Minister is encouraging people to eat seal meat and even
supplying recipes. There are known serious health risks associated
with eating seal meat including viruses, pox, hepatitis, influenza,
morbillivirus, salmonella, mycobacteriosis, staphylococcus,
clostridial, mycotic, candidiasis, sarcocystis, toxoplasma, lung,
stomach, heart, and hook worms). Jackals and Hyenas preying on
mainland sealing colonies have tested positive for or carriers of
rabies and canine distemper virus. It just so happens that one of
the side effects of distemper is starvation….
According to the Fishing Industry Handbook Namibia Venison &
Marine Exporters which produces carcass, meal, seal oil, seal skins
and seal skin products to the livestock, pet food and health food
industry in South Africa is jeopardising the health of livestock,
pets and humans since no health certificate is required. Is the
Minister willing to risk an outbreak similar to "bird-flu" or in
this case, "seal-flu", for the sake of two concessionaires who
employ part-time a few unskilled workers, whose culling at best
benefits Namibian fishery by only 0.02%?
Since this seal/fish meal has already been exported to S. Africa
for livestock feed, there could already be risks to human health
since no health certificate is required. Fishery Ministers urging
citizens to develop a taste for seal meat is grossly
irresponsible.
IFAW
NO FRIEND OF SEALS IN NAMIBIA
11. In 1999 Dr BJ Van Zyl, Chief Biologist Namibian Fisheries, the
Namibian Minister offered the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW) who raises $90 million annually, the opportunity to
"buy-out" the two sealing rights holders, which was rejected by
IFAW. See p.4,
http://www.iwmc.org/sustain/2ndSymposium/issues/issues-14-4.htm
In 1991 the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries agreed to consider a
moratorium on sealing if IFAW could demonstrate that seal watching
is a better source of revenue than sealing; and if IFAW offered
financial assistance for the scientific study of seals in Namibia.
Again they refused.
What exactly is IFAW doing to help the seals? Why haven’t they
taken legal action to stop Namibia proceed against its own
constitition? Or gone to court claiming 3 million seals have been
killed illegally based on the non-jurisdiction of the permits? Or
campaigned to return seals to their historic breeding islands? Or
shown that sealing causes population explosion, weakens seal
populations and collapses fish stocks?
Furthermore, IFAW has been involved in working with the S.African
government to illegally kill seals instead of protecting them.
(short para here?)
MORE
CONSTITUTIONAL INFRINGEMENTS
12. The Cape fur seal population is one species of seal that occurs
between South Africa, Namibia and Angola - Namibia's unlawful
harvest of nursing protected baby seal pups, is therefore an
infringement on the constitutional rights of South Africans under
their Constitution.
LEGAL
BIAS AGAINST SEALS IN NAMIBIA
13. In 2001, when the new regulations for the Exploitation of
Marine Resources was gazetted, Cape fur seals were the only marine
protected species permitted to be harvested by Namibia:
“A person may not harvest any species of marine mammal
other
than the Cape Fur Seal,
kill, disturb or main any penguin, petrel, shearwater, pelican,
gannet, cormorant, duck, goose, gull or tern, or the eggs of any of
these marine resources, or kill or maim any great white shark or
turtle”.
Clearly this is not complying with the Seabirds
and Seals Protection Act no 46 of 1973.
IS
ANYONE HELPING CAPE FUR SEALS?
14. Seal Alert-SA is the only organization who is actively working
to help the Cape Fur Seals. Francois Hugo can be contacted
at
saselion@wam.co.za or
27-21-790-8774.
Francois
Hugo of Seal Alert-SA therefore urges not only the authorities in
Namibia, but the Ministers in South Africa and the general public -
to call for an immediate end to the Namibian Seal Cull and in
addition, the resignation of the Minister, before his irresponsible
behaviour plunges this region into another health crisis and the
Cape Fur seals go extinct.
SUMMARY
1. Namibia is commiting genocide on the Cape Fur Seal. 100% of all
pups born this year (85,000) will be clubbed, stabbed and skinned -
most of them are already suffering from starvation since there are
no fish in the sea.
2. There are a number of breaches of law, i.e.
a) killing nursing and pregnant seals -
no other country in the world allows this
b) breaking the Namibian Constitution by killing seals
unsustainably,
c) infringing on constitutional rights of South Africa and Angola,
who also manage these migrating seals
d) issuing sealing permits beyond the high-tide
mark
3. Namibian Fishery Dept is blaming seals for its own mismanagement
of the fishery industry and its own over fishing policies leading
to the collapse of fish stocks.
4. There is a conflict of interest where the Marine Resource
Director is directly benefiting financially from the seal
slaughter.
5. The slaughter is grossly inhumane.
6. The Minister of Fisheries is jeopardising the health of humans,
pets and livestock by encouraging the consumption of diseased and
contaminated seal meat.
7. The Minister of Fisheries, Abraham Iyambo, must therefore
resign.
8. The International Fund for Animal Welfare is involved in a
government cover-up of the treatment of seals in South Africa, has
refused two offers to buy out the sealing concession holders in
1991 and 1999 and has failed to used millions of dollars donated by
members worldwide to help the Cape Fur Seal.
9. Unless the Namibian Seal Cull is stopped, the consequence will
be global outrage followed by a boycott on Namibian tourism and
products of commerce.
10. The only organization doing anything to protect this species is
SealAlert-SA. Francois Hugo can be contacted in South Africa on
27-21-790-8774 (8 hrs behind east coast Australia),
email sasealion@wam.co.za.