Cape fur seal by Ger van de Geer - NL
for Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
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BLOODY
THURSDAY DEALS FIRST BLOW TO NAMIBIAN SEAL
CULL
<--
April
27, 2010
URGENT
PLZ ASK IFAW, HSI, WSPA TO JOIN FORCES WITH
FRANCOIS HUGO
The
Shining World Compassion Award:
Savior of Seals - Francois Hugo,
Founder of Seal Alert South Africa,
P1/2
WHY WE SHOULD NEVER KILL THEM
-YOUTUBE
FINAL EU VOTE
- MEPs APPROVE SEAL IMPORT BAN
WATCH
THE SEAL WHISPERER
FRANCOIS HUGO -
youtube
GO
TO
sealalertsa.wordpress.com
Protect the cape fur
seals
*
. * . *
SEAL HARVEST HAS MANY BENEFITS by
SOUTHERN TIMES AFRICA Oct09
REACTION SEAL ALERT-SA FRANCOIS HUGO - 29 Oct 09;
"Seal Alert-SA"
Subject : REPLY SouthernTimes Article
Dear
Editor/Southern Times
I refer to your article
"Seal Harvest Has Many Benefits". Your article completely
ignores the facts of the Namibian baby seal pup cull. Which
is, the Namibian Animal Protection Act in 1962 has declared
that it is a criminal offence to harass, disturb and beat
an animal to death. The current method of killing 85 000
nursing baby Cape fur seals, which account for 90% of the
cull quota. In 1972, the US banned all imports of Cape fur
seals under their Marine Mammal Protection Act due to the
fact that the Namibian seal cull killed baby seals still
nursing at the time of slaughter and/or were less than 8
months of age.In 1977 the Cape fur seals was listed as a
UN-CITES Endangered Appendix II species. The Minister
of Fisheries had therefore no right to legalise this
criminal activity by introducing a sealing regulation to
kill these seal pups via clubbing them to death. In 1983
the EU banned imports of "nursing baby seals" due to the
scientific opinion and findings of the supreme court that
found "intolerable cruelty" in killing a nursing seal pup.
In 1987, the world's remaining sealing countries, Canada,
Greenland, Russia and Norway banned the practice of killing
nursing baby seals in their respective sealing regulations.
In 2007, the Netherlands and Germany both introduced
legislation which banned imports of Cape fur seals due to
the cruelty involved in the clubbing cull. In 2008, after
an exhaustive scientific study by the European Food Safety
Authority EFSA, the 27-countries of the EU banned all
imports of Cape fur seals and their products.
Undercover footage of the 2009
culling season has revealed that there is still widespread
cruelty in the clubbing of 85 000 nursing baby Cape fur
seals in Namibia. This opinion is supported by the Namibian
SPCA after viewing footage and seeking legal opinion.
In a nutshell. The Namibian baby
seal pup cull is a banned international practice, banned
from import, is illegal even in Namibia and is without
doubt intolerable cruel.
Most importantly as explained to
the Prime Minister of Namibia directly, his govt is in
violation of Namibia's own Constitution. Under the
Constitution the Namibian govt has firstly an obligation to
protect and promote the conservation of Cape fur seals, and
it can only legally "harvest" seals as you call it, when
this itself contradicts your last quoted paragraph, "If
Seal Alert SA has a better option of culling, the ministry
is willing to modify its method.", in that, the Minister
may only "harvest' seals if it is done on a sustainable
basis.
So what is sustainable? Namibian
scientists have stated 30% of the pups born. In 1990, when
Namibia became independent the seal pup cull was 9000. The
pup cull has since increased over 800% to 85 000 from 2006
onwards. Since 1994, the Cape fur seals in Namibia have
experienced several major mass die-off's from starvation
from overfishing. The last such event in 2006, saw over 300
000 seals starve to death. The largest recorded mass
die-off of marine mammals ever recorded. In 2006, the
Ministry claimed Namibia's largest seal colony, Cape
Cross, produced 65 000 pups, to which must be
subtracted 44% prior to the start of the annual pup cull,
as these pups will die from natural causes and jackal
predation which unnaturally take 1 in 4 pups on the
mainland. This would leave at best 36 000 surviving 7-month
old nursing seal pups in the colony. The Minister has
awarded since 2006, and until 2016, an annual pup cull
quota of 50 000 pups for the Cape Cross seal colony.
Exceeding the number of pups by over 14 000. I flew over
the Cape Cross seal colony in August 2007 and recorded not
a single seal, pup, bull or cow left alive in the largest
seal colony in Namibia.
So no matter what way you try and paint
this picture. This cruel clubbing cull. Kills all the
surviving nursing endangered seal pups in the colony,
in violation of UN, EU, US and Namibia's own laws.
The best option of culling, is to simply
leave the Cape fur seals alone, and allow they to return to
their extinct offshore islands, as South Africa has proven
in its management of its seal population, after ending its
cull policy in 1990.
Most importantly after a hundred
years of protection legislation the Cape fur seals are
still extinct on 98% of their endemic breeding habitat, the
11 offshore seal islands off Namibia
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
"Seal harvest has many benefits" by SOUTHERN TIMES AFRICA Oct09
Reaction by Action Against Poisoning :
As I see no reference to animal welfare in this story, I
understand that the "seal harvest benefits" are based on
singular human interest. Consequently man can kill anything
as long it will provide work and profit, protect our food
supply and can be sold as sustainable.
Regarding the fact that around the Cape the seals are
deliberately removed from their natural habitat one can
hardly speak of a sustainable seal population to survive
anyway.
I disagree with the use of euphemisms and depreciating
terms to justify the killing of seals, defined by Namibian
belief as "nothing but part of what Namibians can harvest".
You don't have to be a bunny-hugger to get unwell from the
use of the word "harvest" for killing living creatures, as
it degrades human feelings about killing to the level of
cutting grass.
Regarding the consumption of fish it is good to know that
seals eat exactly what they need and have no alternative
food supply. People have alternative food supplies and
waste most of their catch anyway. Given these natural facts
it might be more "responsible" to remove men than seals
from the fish food chain.
Tourists visit Namibia for its nature and you can expect
them to be 100% for sustainable nature protection and 100%
against seal culls. So if you treisure tourism it is wise
to focus on nature and forget the culling. And don't ask
seals or Seal Alert SA to provide alternative jobs or
methods of culling. It is not in their power and nature to
give you the answer.
Seal Alert-SA, Media
Release, 16 August 2009
'WAR'
Namibian Govt
Accuses Seal Alert
According to the German newspaper in Namibia,
Allgemeine Zeitung, on 11th August 2009,
www.az.com.na/umwelt/ministerium-warnt-vor-spionage
.
Ministry Permanent
Secretary Alfred Mbanga of the Ministry is quoted as
saying, 'Ministry warns against espionage', "such a project
constitutes a hostile and provocative act, which will not
be taken lightly", adding further, "Namibia has for this
case appropriate laws and institutions, and will restore
law and order".
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA is somewhat confused by these statements from the
Ministry. Is photographers and tourists taking pictures of
seal colonies an 'Act of War'?
Is taking pictures of
Namibia's endangered wildlife or sealing factories and "act
of espionage"?
Did the Ministry not release
Seal Alert-SA's photographer, Neil Hermann on the 12th
August 2009, after several hours of questioning him without
any formal charges being laid. So where is Seal Alert-SA
actions to end the illegal brutal clubbing of endangered
baby seal pups, unlawful or an act of war?
What is the 'state secret'
Namibia is so desperate to hide ?
This is not the first time
Seal Alert has been accused by the Ministry of espionage.
In 2007, the Ministry accused Seal Alert of "economic
sabotage", which later lead to 27-countries in the EU
banning all Namibian Cape fur seal products.
This must be the first time
in history where a government has accused an individual
over living natural resources of war. Governments declare
war, not individuals.
Is Namibia equally accusing
the EU of war, for its ban on seal products ?
According to Reporters
Without Borders, Namibia ranks 23rd in the 2008 Press
Freedom Index, making it the highest ranked country in
Africa. These recent arrests and detentions may have a big
effect on this year's rankings.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA is even more confused, when in his discussion with
the Prime Minister of Namibia Nahas Angula in July 2007,
the PM stated, "that if the harvesting of seals is
destablising or bringing an imbalance in the political
direction of Namibia. If you can do that, then the
government will not want to be sealing under the Namibian
Constitution".
Surely then, instead of
accusing Seal Alert of espionage and war. Namibia should
just uphold its own laws, charge the sealers for animal
cruelty under the act, and publicly announce an end to the
cruel practice of beating to death defenseless baby seal
pups.
The Ministry should be
forewarned that with any war, tourism is the first to
collapse.
Instead of war, Francois
Hugo of Seal Alert-SA asks the permanent secretary Mr
Mbanga, to rather accept its "fact finding mission to the
seal colonies" as offered in its letter dated 10th August
2009. To which it has not received a reply.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8874
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release, 5 August
2009,
Breaking News
Namibian
Sealers Abduct SA Photographer on a Public
Street
tourists photographing the
seals at Cape Cross seal reserve in Namibia
At 9am on Tuesday
4th August, on a public street in Henties Bay, near the
popular tourist attraction of Cape Cross Seal colony in
Namibia, a SA photographer's vehicle was forced off
the road by another vehicle with 4 men who claimed to be
working for sealing concession holder Albert Brink. The men
threatened, intimidated and attempted to force the
photographer to get out of his vehicle. They claimed he had
filmed a truck entering a sealing factory. The photographer
fearing for his life attempted to drive off to the nearest
police station for help. The four men once again forced his
rental vehicle off the road.
The Namibian police from
Henties Bay arrived and then abducted the photographer and
took him to the police station. The photographer was forced
to strip, remove all his clothing, his belt and shoes, and
all his equipment was thoroughly searched. No charges were
laid and he was not arrested. Some hours later he was
taken still in custody to the Namibian Sea Fisheries
facilities, where he was again questioned, and was forced
to reveal the reason behind every photograph he had
taken since entering Namibia on a tourist visa on
Sunday.
Sea Fisheries official
informed the photographer that he was facing a range of
charges for taking pictures in a Seal Reserve.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA received the following
SMS at 3pm, "get me help".
Seal Alert immediately
contacted its attorney Peter Dawson. At 5pm the
photographer contacted Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
informing that he had just been released and was not
charged with anything.
What is going on in Namibia,
asks Francois Hugo? Is no tourist safe ? Can any tourist
who takes a single picture of Namibia's largest tourist
attraction, its Cape fur seal population on the remote
desert coastline, can expect to be forced off public roads
120km from any seal colony, abducted and taken into police
custody searched and questioned ? Their privacy, rights and
personal belonging gone through, whilst they are forced to
explain the reason behind why each photograph was taken
whilst on holiday.
What is the Namibian sealing
industry and the department of Fisheries and Marine
Resources afraid tourists will discover photographing Cape
fur seals ?
Why did the Ministry of
Fisheries refuse to allow the Namibian Newspaper, access to
the seal colony to objectively witness the "world's last
baby seal pup cull on earth"?
The photographer was
repeatedly asked do you know Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA?
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA as part of his ongoing conservation work
for Cape fur seals, asked a photographer Neil
Herman to volunteer his time to go to Namibia and film
the seal colonies in Namibia.
Neil has flown with Francois
Hugo on numerous occasions documenting the seal populations
on numerous colonies over the past several years, both in
South Africa and Namibia.
The Minister of Fisheries and the
Prime Minister have both seen and discussed photographs
taken by Neil, during my various meeting with govt.
My reasoning for asking Neil to
go, was to ascertain if possible the number of less than
one year old seal pups in the colonies. As recent footage
for Cape Cross seal colony, has showed less than a 1000
seal pups facing a sealing quota of 50 000. The Statement
by filmmaker Bart Smithers who was arrested at Cape Cross
two weeks previously for filming the seal
cull, confirms that he saw less than 2000 seals of all
age groups. This needed to be verified and documented.
Sustainable sealing
pup quotas as per Director of Resources BJ van Zyl should
not exceed 30% of the pups born. In order therefore for the
Ministry of Fisheries to award 50 000 pup quota, for the
Cape Cross seal colony, there should be 150 000 pups
present at Cape Cross.
Hotel staff where Neil was
staying informed him there were 500 000 seals at Cape
Cross.
If there is not, then
the sealing pup quota is not sustainable, and would then be
in violation of the constitution of Namibia.
I had asked Neil to
also legally film the sealing factories and equipment to
ascertain the true value of the assets offered by the
Sealing industry to myself in their 14,2 million US dollar
buyout offer, a few weeks earlier.
Two weeks ago, a journalist
and filmmaker were both arrested for filming the seal cull
at Cape Cross. I have since appointed an attorney to obtain
a legal opinion on the sealing industry, violations of
sealing regulations and offences documented under the
Animal Protection Act.
His legal opinion is that
the sealers are both in violation and offences of the
Marine Resources Regulations and the Animal Protection Act
which prevents cruelty. In addition legal opinion is that
the Minister's sealing rights for the Cape Cross Seal
reserve is invalid as this colony is under the jurisdiction
of the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
Seal Alert has asked the
Namibian SPCA to arrest and charge the sealers under the
offences committed under the Animal Protection Act, which
dates back to 1962. The executive committee of the Windhoek
SPCA have indicated that there is cruelty in the seal cull
(in a written received email), but are both scared and
afraid to send their only female inspector to arrest the
sealers. For fear she will be beaten up by the sealers. The
SPCA has instead sort legal opinion, and have asked Seal
Alert to provide funding for the instruction of an attorney
and consul.
Contact :
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert 27-21-790 8774
Neil Hermann on 082 891 4000
Seal Alert-SA's Attorney Peter Dawson 27-21-462 4340
SPCA's Attorney Lee-Anne Agnew 00264-61-233171
Windhoek SPCA executive committee, Dr Debbie Gibson on
00264-61-264 685
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
sasealion@wam.co.za
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
- - - - - - - - - -
BONT VOOR DIEREN/ECOSTORM FILMED THE
SLAUGHTER ETC
< - -
www.bontvoordieren.nl/
<- -
Written by Donna
Collins :
SPCA to step in on seal cruelty issue Wednesday 29 july 2009
Seal arrests spark negative reports Thursday, 23 July 2009
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media
Release 31 July 2009:
High Court
Action to STOP the SEAL CULL
Namibian
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)
as Appointed by the Animal
Protection Act of Namibia since
1962
"We
Will Stop the Seal Cull on the Grounds of Cruelty under the
Act"
few hundred endangered nursing baby seal pups separated
from their mothers
and beaten repeatedly until dead
Please look carefully at the pics
above. After 2 days of the 2009, 139 day sealing season in
Namibia. What you see - is what there is. There does not
appear to be more than 1000 seal pups in the colony (the
largest seal colony for this species), facing a govt
sealing pup quota of 50 000, for this Cape Cross seal
colony alone.
After 40 days into the 2007
sealing season, I flew over this colony, and filmed not a
single seal left anywhere in this seal colony.
That fact alone - should disturb
all who reads this. Something is very wrong with govt's
population assessment.
Sealers are exterminating the
Cape fur seal species, like they did previously on all the
offshore islands, causing their permanent extinction of
these colonies.
Since 1962, the Namibian sealing
industry has cruelly slaughtered and beaten to
death 2,129, 940 endangered nursing seal pups. Each
death an Act of Cruelty under the law, each offence
punishable.
The Namibian newspaper applied for
a permit to view the seal culling objectively was denied.
allafrica.com/stories.html.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
acceptance of the 14,2 million US dollar to buy out the
Namibian sealing industry, did what no other govt or
organization or individual has ever succeeded in doing. It
stopped the seal cull for two weeks. (The culling began
"about a week ago," after a two-week delay, Yavuz added
-
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article
).
Since the 15th, it is estimated
that a further 15 000 seals pups were needlessly
slaughtered and beaten to death, because seal supporters
found a price of $14 a seal to save 1 million seal pups
over the next 10 years, a too high price to pay.
HSI's false reporting to its 11
million members on the 17th
www.hsus.org/hsi/condemns_nmibian_seal_slaughter_and_attack_on_observers_071709.html
and again
on the 22nd, www.hsicanada.ca/seals/namibianbuyout.html,
deleting all references to Seal Alert-SA and other false
claims, illustrates one intention, not to support the
buy-out.
Seal Alert-SA's media release on
the 23rd, demanding that World Society for the Protection
of Animals instruct its member society in Namibia to charge
the Sealers under the Animal Protection Act of 1962, hours
later received the following response.
sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
On the 24 July 2008, Seal Alert-SA
receives the following email from Dr Debbie Gobson, "We
(Namibia (Windhoek) SPCA Ex. Committee) are going to do
what we can to stop the seal cull – at least until it can
be done in a humane manner – on grounds of cruelty".
On the 28 July 2008, Dr Debbie
Gibson sends Seal Alert-SA another email,
"As
I told you on the phone, I had a meeting with the lawyer
which I felt was really very positive. We are going
to try 3 fundamental approaches:
1.
We get the authority from the Henties’ Bay magistrate to
stop the culling on grounds of cruelty. It is not
guaranteed that we will get the
authority.
2.
We get the concession holder’s licence revoked, take
him/her to court and hopefully get them a huge
fine
3.
We lobby the Minister & PS to change the laws so that
the cull will, ultimately, be stopped."
Seal Alert-SA appoints its own attorney, for a legal
opinion (see below).
On the 29 July 2009, Seal Alert-SA receives the following
email.
We act on behalf of the Windhoek SPCA, and will be
providing legal advice to the SPCA on this
matter.
Section
8 of the Animals Protection Act provides as
follows:
“If
authorised thereto by writing under the hand of the
magistrate of a district,
any
officer or any society for the prevention of cruelty to
animals may in that district – …”
(a)
without warrant and at any time with the consent of the
owner or occupier, or failing such consent on obtaining an
order from a magistrate, enter any premises where any
animal is kept, for the purpose of examining the conditions
under which it is so kept;
(b)
without warrant arrest any person who is suspected on
reasonable grounds of having committed an offence under
this Act, if there is reason to believe that the ends of
justice would be defeated by the delay in obtaining a
warrant;
(c)
on the arrest of any person on a charge of an offence under
this Act, seize any animal or thing in the possession or
custody of that person at the time of the arrest and take
it forthwith before a magistrate;
(d)
exercise in respect of any animal the powers conferred by
subsection (1) of section five upon a police officer and in
respect of such exercise of those powers, the provisions of
the said section shall mutatis mutandis
apply.
On the 31st, Seal Alert-SA receives the following email
from SPCA's attorney is Namibia,
"Francois, We cannot act without the further
instructions of the SPCA. (Please bear in mind that our
firm acts on the SPCA’s instructions, and our formal
mandate comes from them.) We have sought counsel’s
opinion on both the APA and “arresting” the cullers as
suggested by you, as well as the possibility of an urgent
application on the basis of the culling being contrary to
the provisions of the Marine
regulations.
We
will revert back to you, once we have consulted with the
client. A consultation was held between Adv Corbett and
myself yesterday morning and we decided it was not
necessary to put together a written brief before he
commenced looking at the matter. He has all the relevant
information, as well as all correspondence forwarded by you
and other interested parties.
Can
we confirm that your organisation will only provide the
SPCA with funding if your approach of “arresting” the
cullers is followed?
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA, who has no
locus standi
in Namibia as I am not a Namibian citizen or authorised to
act under the Animal Protection Act. Is therefore required
to work with the Namibian SPCA to bring about an end to the
seal cull through the legal method of court action. Besides
he costs of obtaining a magistrate's warrant of arrest, and
an urgent application to review the culling, a high court
review of the entire seal culling/conservation issue might
need to be addressed urgently.
The Namibian SPCA and its attorney's are asking me to fund
this. Which I have undertaken to do within reason. An
amount in excess of 500 000 is needed for high court and
legal expenses.
If any supporter reading this, is interested in being part
of this ground breaking attempt to legally end this "last
baby seal cull on earth", and can assist with legal
funding, to please contact Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
at
sasealion@wam.co.za,
urgently.
Money is what will stop it now. I ask all those that made
pledges for the buyout to please reconsider the above, and
get in contact with me for the necessary banking
details.
For
the Seals
Francois
Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790
8774
* . * .
*
Ecologist Film Unit
journalist beaten by seal hunters
Seal
Alert-SA, Media Release, 26th July 2009
Seal Alert demands Namibia SPCA charge the sealers with
cruelty and place seal colony into their custody
Seal Alert-SA
Instructs Namibia SPCA to immediately Arrest Sealers and
take Seal Colony into "Custody"
Dear Executive Committee of the
Windhoek SPCA in Namibia,
I refer to your email dated 24
July 2009. As the SPCA executive committee has already
confirmed cruelty at
Cape Cross,
and as such advised Seal Alert-SA in writing of such
decision, they are therefore obligated under the Animal
Protection Act to immediately proceed to the Cape Cross
seal colony, arrest and charge the sealers with cruelty and
take the seal colony into custody as per the Act.
It should have already taken
place. I request that this is done by no later than Monday,
27th July 2009.
The request by the Executive
Committee of the SPCA to WSPA, NSPCA and Seal Alert to
"Would you be able to help us with funds if we have to pay
for legal assistance? Advice would also be gratefully
accepted" is accepted. However this is a side issue, and
should not prevent the immediate action of preventing
further cruelty nor the failure to arrest the sealers for
said cruelty which took place on the 16th July 2009.
On the 16th day, after the
seal harvest season opened on 1 July 2009, with a sealing
pup quota of 50 000 for Cape Cross seal colony for the 2009
sealing season in Namibia. A journalist from the UK
and an award winning film-maker from South Africa,
witnessed and video recorded, repeated acts of cruelty to
the seals at Cape Cross. The two were subsequently arrested
for trespassing in a marine restricted area, to which they
pleaded guilty and were fined. Some of the video evidence
was confiscated by state authorities and some of the video
evidence was not, and is now publicly available
on websites and the internet. www.bontvoordieren.nl .
See newspaper quotes,
www.google.com//article/ and ww.informante.web.na.
The SPCA is required to seek
authority of a magistrate to obtain this confiscated video
evidence of seal cruelty seized by the Minister of
Fisheries or state. As this evidence contains animal
cruelty.
The eye witness and video evidence
taken out of Namibia and seen by the SPCA, WSPA and NSPCA
clearly shows the following, 1) The seal rights holder's
seal-clubbers were clearly operating and conducting the
cruelty outside of their permitted jurisdiction (which is
well beyond the high water mark). 2) The sealers were
clearly in violation of State sealing regulations in
the following instances a) no sticking of the seal in the
heart immediately after clubbing was evident as required by
the regulations after multiple clubbing of various seals
during a period of at least 10-20 minutes were filmed. b)
Numerous seals were clubbed repeatedly on various part of
the body, inflicting pain, stress and cruelty, which is in
violations of the regulation which requires one club to the
head to achieve instantaneous death and the immediate
piercing of the heart to ensure a humane death, free from
suffering. c) Sea Fisheries inspector, identified as
Claudius shutte ikeberg failed in his duty as per the
regulations which require him to ascertain that a seal pup
that has been clubbed is dead.
See official reply, by the
Ministry of Fisheries to the deposition by Seal Alert-SA
against the seal cull in Namibia on the 14 September 2006,
it reads, "The so-called conservation groups asked why
female seals are not harvested. The reproductive cycle of
the Cape fur seal extends over a 12 month period.
Consequently, all adult females are either nursing a
new-born pup or are pregnant during the seal harvesting
season. Therefore harvesting of female seals would endanger
the life of new born and the unborn pups. Seal Alert-SA has
called an end to what they claim to be "cruel way of
slaughtering" seal pups. The method of clubbing pups have
been found to be the most humane method worldwide. The best
method to slaughter any animal must always be used and
improved. Namibia is a land of good morals where the life
of creatures (seals) enjoys a high level of respect and
protection. We use methods intended to result in
instantaneous death of pups. Perhaps the so-called
conservation groups are confusing our method with those
practiced in the north Atlantic. Be assured that such
practices is non-existent in Namibia".
The video evidence clearly proves
numerous cases of cruelty where seal pups had been clubbed
which did not result in instantaneous death, even after
repeated illegal clubbing or beating.
The Marine Resources Act of 2001,
define a seal pup as a seal less than one year of age. The
Namibian Minister of Fisheries has granted two seal rights
holders rights and a quota for 2009 to harvest 85 000 seal
pups at Cape Cross Seal Colony and at Wolf/Atlas Bay Seal
Colonies. Sealing season runs from 1 July - November
15. Sealing started two weeks late this year, and as such
sealers have 105 days remaining to fill their quota. Due to
production facilities at the processing plant at Henties
Bay sealers will be required to club to death over 800 seal
pups, every day for the next 105 days. In light of this
mass cruelty to be inflicted daily.
The SPCA in Namibia is legally bound
under the Animal Protection Act of 1962, as an officer of a
society, with the society defined as the SPCA, as
authorised by the Minister of Justice, to
immediately with any animal or wild animal (seals)
where there are reasonable grounds to believe that an
animal needs immediate care or if it is reasonably
necessary to prevent cruelty to or suffering of such an
animal, seize such animal and take it into the custody of
the society. The officer of the society (SPCA)
requires the authority in writing under the hand of the
magistrate of the district.
In this regard. The Animal Protection
Act is very clear. Offences in respect of Animals, "any
person who; ill-treats, neglects, infuriates, tortures or
maims or cruelly beats, kicks, goads or terrifies any
animal is guilty of a criminal offence, and must be brought
before a police charge office and charged under the Act.
Including the "owner" or sealing rights holders.
Is is therefore the lawful duty of the SPCA
under the Animal Protection Act, who have already as at
11.06am on the 24th July 2009,indicated their official
assessment of animal cruelty, as stated, "We (Namibia
(Windhoek) SPCA Ex. Committee) are going to do what we can
to stop the seal cull – at least until it can be done in a
humane manner – on grounds of cruelty". Are therefore duty
bound to arrest the sealers and seal rights holder for the
Cape Cross seal colony and take them to the police station
and officially charge them under the act, and in addition,
immediately request a magistrate to grant the SPCA the
authority to immediately place the Cape Cross seal colony
into "custody", as per the act, to prevent future cruelty,
which in all likelihood would involve a written notice
to be posted on the gate the sealers use to access the seal
colony at Cape Cross.
As the sealing regulations and methods are the
same for the Wolf/Atlas Bay seal colony, such a written
notice/authority must be included for this seal colony, and
the seal colony taken into SPCA "custody" via a
written notice.
Aspects of the cruelty, will be discussed
later once, the sealers have been arrested and charged
and the seal colonies are taken into "custody" via
written authority of a magistrate as per the Act and
Minister of Justice.
As Seal Alert-SA has been informed of this
cruelty, as agreed by the Namibian SPCA on the 24th July
2009 (see above). The SPCA is required to immediately
proceed to the Cape Cross Seal colony on or before 7am on
the 27th July 2009, and effect its arrest of the sealers
and their being charged at a police station.
I await written confirmation of these arrests
by the Executive Committee of the SPCA Windhoek/Namibia and
the written authority of the magistrate ordering the SPCA
to place the Cape Cross and Wolf/Atlas Bay seal colony into
SPCA's "custody" as prescribed by the Act.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
sasealion@wam.co.za
sealalertsa.wordpress.com
See below for supporting info related to these cruelty
cases (naturally I can forward all necessary copies upon
request)
Under common english law, the Cape fur seals, as wildlife,
are rus nullius. Res
nullius (lit: nobody's
thing)
is a Latin term derived from
Roman law whereby res
(objects in the
legal sense, anything that can be owned, even slaves,
but not subjects in law such as citizens) are not yet
the object of rights of any specific subject. Such items
are considered ownerless property and are usually free
to be owned. Examples of res
nullius in the socio-economic sphere
are wild animals or abandoned property. Finding can also
be a means of occupation (i.e. vesting ownership), since
a thing completely lost or abandoned is res nullius, and
therefore belonged to the first taker. In English
common law, for example,
forest laws and game laws have specified which animals
are res
nullius and when they become
someone's property. Wild animals are regarded as
res
nullius, and as not being the
subject of private property until reduced into
possession by being killed or captured.
"the
Act" means the Animals Protection Act, 1962 (Act 71 of
1962);
To
consolidate and amend the laws relating to the prevention
of cruelty to animals.
1.
DEFINITIONS
In this Act, unless the content otherwise
indicates:
"Minister"
means the Minister of Justice.
"animals"
means any equine, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, fowl, ostrich,
dog, cat, or other domestic animal or bird, or any wild
animal, wild animal, wild bird or reptile which is in
captivity or under control of any
person.
"owner"
in relation to an animal, includes any person having the
possession, charge, custody or control of that
animal.
"officer"
means an officer of a society;
"society"
means a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals as
intended in section 8(1) of the
Act.
2.
(1) If authorised thereto in writing under the hand of the
magistrate of a district, any officer of any society may in
that district if it appears that there are reasonable
grounds to believe that an animal found in that district
needs immediate care or if it is reasonably necessary to
prevent cruelty to or suffering of such an animal, seize
such animal and take it into the custody of the
society.
. OFFENCES IN RESPECT OF ANIMALS - (1) Any person who:
(a
)overloads, overdrives, overrides, ill-treats, neglects,
infuriates, tortures or maims or cruelly beats, kicks,
goads or terrifies any animal; or
(q)
causes, procures or assists in the commission or omission
of any of the aforesaid acts or, being the owner of any
animal, permits the commission or omission of any such act;
or
(r)
by wantonly or unreasonably or negligently doing or
omitting to do any act or causing or procuring the
commission or omission of any act, causes any unnecessary
suffering to any animal; or
Namibian
Constitution.
|
|
Article 100 -
Sovereign Ownership of Natural Resources
Land, water and natural resources below and above the surface of the land and in the continental shelf and within the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of Namibia shall belong to the State if they are not otherwise lawfully owned. On the 14 September 2006, High Commission of Namibia sent an official reply to Seal Alert from the Ministry. The Ministry claims."Chapter 11, Article 95 of the Namibian Constitution, harvesting seals is thus a constitutional mandate". |
South Africa has a similar constitution, and a similar sustainable use mandate. Public Protector Advocate ML Mushwana on 15 November 2005, tabled the following report in Parliament. Report 51"on an investigation into allegations of improper conduct of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in connection with the conservation and protection of the Cape fur seal". His findings were, "The department has a constitutional obligation to protect and promote the conservation of South Africa's seal resource".
New Era (state owned newspaper in Namibia) published an article on 12 July 2006, "in defence of the seal harvest", and quoted Minister of Fisheries Abraham Iyambo. "People complain about the methods, but we have not received suggestions on better methods" and, "There is no other appropriate method. We have tried shooting pups and it's not a good method".
On the 14 September 2006, High Commission of Namibia sent an official reply to Seal Alert from the Ministry.
"Harvesting operations of seals is governed by the regulations of Marine Resources Act of 2001".
A symposium on sustainable use of wildlife resources in China in November 1999, saw Namibian Ministry of Fisheries resource director BJ Van Zyl. Present a paper titled, "Culling of seals in Namibia : A Conservation Necessity".
Since independence in 1990. Sealing methods were regulated through the South African Sea Birds and Seals Protection Act no.46 of 1973 and the sealing regulations 1976. This legislation was still in force in Namibia, until seals and seabirds were incorporated into the Marine Resources Act of 2001.
This Act states, "To provide for control over certain islands and rocks (note the mainland is not mentioned); for the protection, and the control of the capture and killing of seabirds and seals". "islands" means any islands or rocks specified in schedule 1 (Again there is no reference or jurisdiction to mainland seal colonies). Powers of the Minister in connection with islands, seabirds and seals and products of seabirds and seals. Prohibitions/Permit/Jurisdiction - "upon any island or within territorial waters or along the coast between the low water mark as defined in section 1 of the Sea-shore Act, 1935, and the high water mark as so defined, pursue or shoot at or wilfully disturb, kill or capture any sea bird or seal, exempt with a permit".
It is therefore clear the Minister of Fisheries powers and jurisdiction ends at the high tide water mark
in the Marine Resources Act regulations in 2001, under "protected species", it reconfirms this limiting jurisdiction
section (c) above clearly states "on the shore seaward of the high water mark".
Although Section 2 (2) of the Marine Regulations 2001, states "A holder of a right, which must be driven away from sea", does not in fact state this relates to the mainland or that it permits the sealers to drive the seals beyond the jurisdiction.
It is therefore clear that the sealers in order to harvest the seals on the mainland, are themselves violating the permit conditions.
In addition the sign-board at the Cape Cross Seal colony implies this Seal Reserve is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, as displayed on state sign-board
- - - - - - -
Written by Donna
Collins - Thursday, 23 July 2009
ABOUT
120 international media organisations have released a
wave of negative reports on Namibia following the story
about the arrest of two journalists filming seal
clubbing at the Cape Cross Seal Colony in Walvis Bay
last week.
Some of the reports imply that thousands of tourists who
visit and film seals at the Cape Cross especially from July
to November every year are at risk of arrest.
“Then every tourist who visits and films seals at the Cape
Cross Seal Reserve or any of the other 14 more remote seal
colonies in Namibia, is guilty of the same offence, and can
expect to be assaulted, punched in the face, locked up have
their camera’s stolen and charged with a jail sentence,”
one of the reports said.
Seal Alert’s Francois Hugo told Informanté from the Cape
that the seal cull doesn’t benefit the fisheries, because
nursing seals are being clubbed.
He said the whole barbaric practice must be
stopped.
www.theecologist.co.uk/News/newsroundup/ecologistfilmunitjournalistbeatenbysealhunters
By Animalrights
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA the driving force for the past three years behind the anti-seal hunt campaign. Wants it ended. Hatem Yavuz the Australian fur buyer representative of the Namibian sealing industry wants to sell out....
Helping Animals Worldwide - http://helpinganimalsworldwide.blogspot.com/
| Helping Animals Worldwide: Namibian seal update.Video! |
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release, 23 July 2009
Seal Alert-SA
'Asks' Namibian Govt,
What do you 'Want'
to end Seal Cull ?
Protected Marine Species
in Namibia
Hatem Yavuz, a
leading buyer of wildlife skins has stated he would love to
acquire African penguin skins. As the skins make the best
fur jackets. Although Namibian govt lists the African
penguin as a marine resource and is a consumer of
commercial fish. Shares the same UN-CITES appendix II
endangered species rating as the Cape fur seal. The
Namibian govt has declared Penguins, most seabirds, 36
species of marine mammals (seals, dolphins and
whales) and great white sharks - protected species.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA asks the Namibian govt what it needs to declare
the Cape fur seals a protected species and to stop
harvesting or culling ?
Over the past month
over 400 media publications around the world have published
negative reports on Namibia's seal cull. Many more on
websites, blogs, chat rooms and twitter. This cannot be
good in times of a global recession or for Namibia's
tourism. The world wants the Namibian seal cull to end.
Seal product imports banned in the US since 1972, South
Africa since 1990 and now in the EU in 2009. Listed by
UN-CITES in 1977 and 1990 by Namibia as an Appendix II
endangered species. news.google.co.za/news-namibia-seal .
A video of the seal
pup clubbing has been smuggled out of Namibia.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA the driving force for the past three years behind
the anti-seal hunt campaign. Wants it ended. Hatem Yavuz
the Australian fur buyer representative of the Namibian
sealing industry wants to sell out.
Seal Alert-SA's asks
the Namibian govt. What does govt need to officially end
Namibia's seal cull and protect the species ?
If you are considering
HSI or IFAW or WSPA's proposal. To independently monitor
the seal pup clubbing cruelty. The Namibian govt will
be making a grave mistake. It will simply exploit the
situation. To appeal for more funding to end seal hunts.
Exposing Namibia to international negative images and
boycotts for decades to come.
If govt wants the
seal-clubbers retrained, reskilled or re-employed. Give me
your requirements.
If govt feels the seal
cull is necessary to protect commercial fishing. Would you
consider a moratorium to assess whether nature, jackals,
sea-birds, drownings, starvation and collapsed fisheries -
more than adequately 'manages' the seal population, and
prevents high growth ?
Does the govt need
funding for further conservation research?
Would govt accept
a buy-out of the industry, and if accepted would govt then
officially end the seal cull ?
Does govt need
evidence of sealing irregularities in order to cancel or
withdraw sealing rights ?
Does govt need the
annual seal quota levies paid of N$2 a pup or N$6 a
bull ?
Would govt accept
re-populating seals to extinct former seal islands, and
funding, to assess whether this would naturally manage the
seal population ?
I await your response.
Please give me the opportunity to meet your
requirements to end the seal cull in Namibia.
Seal Alert-SA is
prepared to accept any written proposal received from the
Namibian govt to end the Cape fur seal cull.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
sasealion@wam.co.za
sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
- - - - - - -
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release, 19 July 2009
Assaulted
'Kodak Moment' Tourists In Namibia
Now Home Safely,
Forced Guilty
Pleas 'Bogus' & Extortion
11.07am 20 August
2005 (middle
of seal culling season)
12.06am 10 August 2007
The 'Kangaroo Court' and assault and theft of film
equipment on two foreign tourist film-makers who
entered Namibia to view and film the seals at
Namibia's biggest tourist attraction which earns Namibian
govt N$9 million annually. Was a PR nightmare for Namibia's
tourist industry.
Over 120 media
organizations around the world released negative news
reporting the next day, such as, "Namibia seal hunters
'clubbed journalists', seized footage",
www.monstersandcritics.com/Namibia_seal_hunters_clubbed_journalists_seized_footage.
With a govt Fisheries
Official present whilst Australian Hatem Yavuz's
Sealer's assaulted the tourists in Namibia. Demands
immediate official investigation.
The assault and
theft of the tourists occurred less than 250 metres from
the newly constructed tourist walk-away. Constructed
recently with govt funding to prevent exactly this type of
incident. With tourists wondering into the seal colony and
disturbing the breeding seals. As noted by the following
govt funded website, "Consequently, this encourages
tourists to climb into the seal enclosure for a better view
and at the same time causing massive disturbance to the
seal colony."
www.nacoma.org.na/Key_Activities/MatchingGrants.htm
Over 50 percent of the
100 000 tourists visiting and filming the seal colony at
Cape Cross annually are during seal culling season
between July and November 15, each year - now at
risk.
The Namibian govt's
failure to arrest and charge the sealing assailants with a
Fisheries official present must also be fully investigated.
The incident whereby
the two tourists/journalists/filmmaker who were in police
custody with a Fisheries Inspector official present. Who
were then punched in the face by a man travelling in
another vehicle, and who was not arrested or charged, needs
a full investigation.
Govt's charging
of the tourists under the Marine Resources Act of
2000.
"Trespassing in a marine reserve", which carries a maximum
sentence of 20 years in jail or a N$500 000 fine, is bogus.
Even the lesser charge that the two tourists/filmmakers
were forced to plead guilty to, "entering a restricted area
without permission" and were then fined, 12 months in jail
or N$10 000 each, with half suspended, is equally
bogus.
The guilty plea was
simply out of fear for their lives and desire to leave
Namibia.
The Marine Resources
Act jurisdiction ends at the high-tide water mark. Seal
clubbing activity actually drives the seal herd's illegally
outside of their permitted jurisdiction. Inland into the
Ministry of Environmental and Tourism jurisdiction. The
original wording of this Act, came from the former Seal
Protection Act legislated in 1973 and still enforced until
2000 in Namibia. This "Act" was written and applied to
sealing activities on seal herd's living offshore on
islands, and as such none of these new mainland seal
colonies that have developed due to sealing disturbance on
the islands, was protected under this act. The
Ministry of Fisheries had therefore no legal right to
charge the tourists.
This Cape Cross Seal
Reserve is actually under the Minister of Environment &
Tourism, who charges the tourists a fee to enter the seal
colony to view and film seals. It was his mandate to
decide whether or not the tourists contravened any
regulations.
The seal colony is
open to tourists all year round. The Minister of
Environment and Tourism has remained silent.
As reported in the
Namibian, www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2009/july/article/foreign-journalists-arrested-for-filming-seal-cull/ .Chief
Crime Investigation Co-ordinator, Chief Inspector Charles
Sibolile, arrest of the tourists under the
Namibian Marine Resources Act. Stating, “The Cape Cross
area is closed during the culling season and any entry is
prohibited unless the Minister of Fisheries gives
permission" is equally bogus.
The Ministry of
Environment and Tourism has a 'ticket' permit costing N$80
to view the seal colony, as this seal colony is open to
paying tourists all-year round (see pics above of tourists
standing in seal colony at Cape Cross and filming).
Sibolile further
remarks to The Namibian. The two foreign journalists
might however also face charges for not applying for
permission to film at the Namibia Film Commission and for
allegedly entering Namibia with a tourism visa and for
having failed to apply for accreditation at the Ministry of
Information. “These people did not approach the Namibian
Film Commission for permission to film and unless they
obtained temporary work permits through another source,
they have been illegally filming or working in the
country,” Wilma Deetlefs, Director in the Ministry told The
Namibian. “These people will now have to answer to charges
against them and it appears as if the Namibia Film
Commission will also lay a charge that they were filming in
the country without permission.”. Is also complete nonsense
and bogus, as these two filmmakers entered Namibia as
tourists on a tourist visa.
The above comments are also
nonsensical, Particular as reported by AFP last year
on July 6, 2007, in which "Moses Maurihungirire, director
of resources management in the fisheries and marine
resources ministry, would not comment on whether there was
an official ban on reporters in the hunting region, but
reporters often have been chased away from the remote and
well-guarded sites.". www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn.html .
It is therefore clear that the
Namibian govt would not grant permission to film the
clubbing of endangered seal pups whose exported products
have been banned in the US and EU.
If these claims is true. Then
every tourist who visits and films seals at the Cape Cross
Seal Reserve or any of the other 14 more remote seal
colonies in Namibia, is guilty of the same offence,
and can expect to be assaulted and have their camera's
stolen and charged with 20 year jail
sentences.,Particularly those professional filmmakers or
journalists taking a holiday to Namibia.
The only explanation why govt and
the Namibian sealing industry firmly put their 'stinky
seal clubbing feet in their mouth' and caused an
international PR nightmare that will cost the tourism
industry in Namibia millions, is because of the excellent
lawful anti-seal hunt campaign Seal Alert-SA has been
waging against the industry for years.
The Namibian sealing and travel
industry must realize that Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
is simply not going to go away, until the Cape fur seal
hunt has been officially stopped. I have at least the next
20 years ahead of me to shut this banned seal clubbing
industry down.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
sasealion@wam.co.za
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
Latest info The sunday
Independent 19 July 09
- - - - - - -
-
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release,
17 July 2009
HSUS's
Genesis & Bridget Bardot
'Green' Award Winning Film-maker
Sits in
Namibian Jail Charged for filming the US, EU &
SA Banned Namibian Seal Pup Cull
Bart Smithers of South
Africa
According to AFP in Windhoek, Journalists Bart Smithers and
Jim Wickens are being held in police cells at Henties Bay,
following their arrest at 7am for filming a seal colony,
and will appear in court on Friday. news.namibiaenvironmentarrestseals
.
France's Le Monde newspaper also ran the story,
www.lemonde.fr/web/depeches0,14-0,39-39876257@7-58,0.html.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA is
concerned that the charges are bogus, as according to AFP,
Namibia police spokesperson Angula Amulungu, "they had
allegedly contravened the Fisheries and Marine Resources
Act".
Contravened what ?
Approaching to close to a seal colony being clubbed to
death ?
Although the Minister of
Fisheries grants sealers the right to club seal pups. The
Minister's jurisdiction ends at the high-tide water mark.
The seal-clubbers practice of driving seal herd's inland
away from the seashore to club them. Is what in fact
contravenes the Fisheries jurisdiction. The Minister of
Fisheries has no legal basis to charge the two journalists,
as this land upon which the Cape Cross seal colony sits, is
managed by the Minister of the Environment and Tourism.
The Cape Cross Colony is open to tourists all year
round. The arrest and charge is therefore unlawful,
as is the assault and damage to very expensive camera
equipment by the sealers.
Is any tourist safe in
Namibia now ? Should foreign embassy's not issue warnings
advising their citizens to avoid visiting any of the remote
seal colonies in Namibia. For fear of being falsely
assaulted and beaten for mistakenly being journalists.
On what basis were these two
journalists, who until their arrest, could have been any
foreign tourists who just happen to approach too close to a
seal colony with their camera's. On what basis, did the
Namibian sealers chase after these "tourist/journalist's"
and attempt to run them over, assault and beat them and
damage valuable private property. Particular as reported by
AFP last year on July 6, 2007, in which "Moses
Maurihungirire, director of resources management in the
fisheries and marine resources ministry, would not comment
on whether there was an official ban on reporters in the
hunting region". www.washingtonpost.com_pf.html .
Bart Smithers received
no payment for undertaking this dangerous assignment.
He did it because he is deeply concerned for the future
survival of the Cape fur seal in Namibia.
Bart Smithers a long time
friend and film-maker of Francois Hugo's efforts to end the
Namibian seal cull, sent the following two SMS's today,
"Don't call, big shit, being arrested, they wanted to kill
us ... clubbers went crazy. managed to hide my phone, will
contact soon, the embassies know. B"
and later in the day
Bart phoned and said the police are taking away his phone,
and hurriedly sent another text message, "clubbing was
hectic, they randomly club seals in large herd, no knives
etc. What's more the chap that was the most hectic is from
the ministry of fisheries name is claudius shutte ikeberg".
Bart Smithers a film-maker
and producer of many 50/50 SABC 2 wildlife programs,
including three on the Cape fur seals, and who during one
program, was present at the historic meeting between
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA and the Prime Minister Nahas
Angula in 2007.
A few months earlier,in
Hollywood, US. Independent filmmaker Bart Smithers walked
away with the Brigitte Bardot award for best film or
television production in the international category of the
Genesis awards for environmental awareness journalism and
media creation. The award-winning film “Hunters Become
Hunted”, which was flighted on SABC 2’s 50/50, documents
the attempts of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to
halt the Japanese whaling fleet from fishing illegally in
the Antarctic during its 2005/6 campaign. Bart was
introduced to Paul Watson and Seashepherd International by
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA. www.bizcommunity.com/InBrief
.
The Genesis Award is run by
HSUS Hollywood office. Every year, the
Genesis Awards pays tribute to the major
news and entertainment media for producing outstanding
works such as these, which raise public understanding of
animal issues. As much as film, television, print and
the arts reflect societal attitudes, they also help
shape and change those attitudes. The mass media have
the power to spotlight animal issues to vast
audiences—literally at the speed of light. So it is
within the major media—with its influential voices and
its huge audience—that the Hollywood office of The HSUS concentrates its
efforts. The Genesis Awards recognizes that the media
hold an important key to a more enlightened and
civilized society.
www.hsus.org/about_us/the_genesis_awards/20th_anniversary_genesis_awards/Celebrating-the-Major-Media.html.
A member of HSUS
Hollywood.org, sent Seal Alert-SA the following pledge on
July 1, "Dear Francois, I would like to pledge $30 to help
end the slaughter of seals in Namibia. I hope you are
able to raise all $14 million US dollars to stop it.
It remains to be seen
whether HSUS or Seashepherd will come to the assistance of
Bart Smither's and Jim Wickens in jail in Namibia, to which
Bart has contributed massively to their respective causes
in the past. The websites of HSUS and Seashepherd make no
mention of the Namibian seal cull or of Bart's arrest.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA asks the Bridget Bardot Foundation who honoured
Bart with its award to seek French intervention, and assist
in seeking the two journalist's release. I am naturally
concerned for their safety under police arrest.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA also received the following email today from Hatem
Yavuz, it reads,
From:
hatemyavuz@superonline.com
To: Seal alert Francios hugo
.
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:23 PM
Subject:
Re: S-Day for
Namibian Seals Begun.
Hello Francios, Thanks for your email.
You may put it on record if you wish. I rcvd ur offer for
halting anys seal harvest........yet it is much more
expensive than you think according to your calculation and
may jeopardize my business and my relations with the
fisheries.
I have understood two issues here: You as seal
alert-Francios Hugo is and seems to be the most legitimate
activist I personally encountered, yet unfortunatley you
have been left alone In your venture Which has receeded
your influence worldwide.
I personally have newly understood, the morale issues by
the main activists are based on making NOISE for DONATIONS,
rather than the real cause.
This has shown YOU and WE, are alone on this planet since
both sides of the extremes are not of value interms of
ethics.........those who see and believe sailing on flashy
boats and ships are basically enjoying the tripple digit
income and million dollar offices for the sake WE and
companies like Yavuz to do what we do, for the sake of Seal
Shephard, animal australia and what's very ironic HSI.
We will do what we have to, you will proceed naturally(
which the activists of naturellly would not know the
meaning of ).Good luck, just remember that 'no one is the
real winner on any side of this battle except the battle
itself'. " Churchill".....to have peace, you must be ready
for war. "Ataturk" Peace at home, is peace in the world.
Don't forget, The TUrkish nation is adopting this rule by
enforcing energy pipe lines( nabucco, btc, and others)
through its territory to avoid future wars, we are also in
this process and we don't want to confront a wise persone
like yoursself, yet you as an individual must understand
States have an agenda, like it or not. We also have to deal
with our situation and obligation(s).
Regards Hatem YAVUZ YAVUZ Group.
What remains now to be seen,
is whether HSUS, IFAW and WSPA will come to the immediate
aid of these two journalists or ignore these two, like they
have to date done with Seal Alert-SA's attempt to buyout
the sealing industry two weeks ago, which effectively
ignored the plight of the Cape fur seals.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA's also received the following email from Claire
Bass of World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
at 11.05am,
"Francois,I
am very disappointed to see that – less than 48 hours after
we spoke and I agreed to speak to my HSI colleagues and our
legal people about your plans – you have reverted back to
back-stabbing NGOs, including HSI and WSPA. Having spoken
to Mark Glover we agreed that we would contact you to
arrange a call but I’m afraid your latest outburst has
destroyed any foundation we may have had to talk
professionally or civilly about this.
I especially resent your assertion that HSI (Rebecca
Aldworth) runs a ‘PR’ anti-sealing campaign – having
witnessed first hand HSI’s incredible and successful
campaign to secure a ban in the EU this really could not be
further from the truth.
I cannot imagine how you think you can ask us to work
alongside and support you and then just hours later launch
a bitter (and unfounded) organisational and personal
attack.
Furthermore, in addition to several legal problems which
have been identified with your $14million plan, your
volatile and unreasonable behaviour would prevent us from
collaborating with you on this.
Please be advised that we are developing our own plans to
address this horribly cruel and unnecessary hunt and will
keep you informed as they progress. I’m sorry you have
created this unpleasant situation.
I would urge you in future to try to stop your passion and
fury from making enemies with people who are on the same
side as you.Claire".
Naturally Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
remains deeply concerned with this
arrest.
For the
Seals
Francois Hugo
Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790
8874
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
- - - - - - -
Seal Alert-SA, Media
Release, 16th July 2009:
Breaking News :
Namibian Sealers turn Clubs on Undercover Film-Makers
Seal
Alert-SA, Media Release, 16 July 2009
Namibian
Sealers turn Clubs on undercover
Film-makers
Details
are sketchy. In Namibia near or around Cape Cross Seal
Colony today at 7am, Namibian seal pup clubbers, were
filmed killing seal pups. For which they have no permit to
harvest. Namibian seal clubbers then assaulted the
film-crew. A South African well known film-maker Bart
Smithers and a Jim Wickens of Eco-storm, a British citizen.
They were beaten up by the sealers, and then arrested and
put in police custody in a vehicle. It has been
further reported sealers then club into the Police
vehicle and further beat up the film-makers. Both are
now being held at the Police Station in Henties Bay.
The
British High Commission in Namibia has been contacted. The
release of the men has been called for.
A British investigative journalist and his South African
fixer have today been violently assaulted by seal hunters
and arrested by police whilst documenting the controversial
Namibian seal cull.
Jim Wickens, a reporter with the Brighton-based Ecostorm
agency, and Bart Smithers, a freelance cameraman and
fixer, were this morning attacked by a group of seal
hunters armed with clubs before having their video camera
equipment stolen in the Cape Cross Seal Reserve, Western
Namibia.
The team, working with Dutch NGO Bontvoordieren, are
understood to have been filming the killing of seals for
some twenty minutes before a group of hunters approached
and assaulted them - reportedly punching them to the ground
and hitting them with clubs.
Their cameras and video footage were also seized in the
incident, which happened about 7am this morning.
Police subsequently arrived before arresting the pair on
suspicion of trespass and obstruction.
According to Jim Wickens, a seal hunter again attacked them
whilst they were being held in a police vehicle.
They pair are currently being held at a local police
station.
Andrew Wasley, co-director of Ecostorm, said: "We are at
present working with the British High Commission in Namibia
to establish the full picture and secure the release of our
team. Clearly this was a violent and unwarranted attack on
two journalists doing their job - gathering information and
pictures of the highly secretive Namibian seal hunt."
He continued: "As well as calling for the immediate release
of Jim Wickens and Bart Smithers we want the Namibian
authorities to investigate the assaults and theft of
equipment"
Bontvoordieren - and a growing number of international
campaigners - are calling for the immediate release of the
pair from police custody.
http://www.bontvoordieren.nl/
PLEASE CONTACT :
Andrew Wasley (Ecostorm) +44 (0)7977 239406
info@eco-storm.com
Claudia Linssen (Bontvoordieren) +31 206766600
info@bontvoordieren.nl
ENDS
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
Write your own letter to
, , ,
Letter Maria capefursealsupporter:
Dear Sirs,
We hear that Jim Wickens, of Brighton's Ecostorm Agency and
Bart Smithers, freelance cameraman, both witnesses of
illegal seal clubbing, were severely attacked by the seal
killers.
Instead of arresting the violent attackers, your police
took Messrs. Wickens en Smithers into custody!
We ask you to release them immediately and to give them
back their full equipment.
At the same time, we would ask you to put finally an end to
the eco-terrorism the Namibian seal clubbers are
committing.
Thanking you in advance ,
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Maria
Seal
Pup Clubbing Begun - S-Day for Namibian Seals Begun
Article in 1993 where
Namibian govt offered IFAW to buy them out – IFAW refused,
sealing industry invested and the seal killing increased
S-Day for Namibia’s seals began on Monday 13th July 2009.
Slaughter day, Sealing day, Seal day or Sick day, call it
what you will.
Instead of an invasion by seal supporters pledging $14 to
buyout the industry – the endangered Cape fur seals
breeding colonies were invaded by men with clubs earning
$100 a month.
A 5-ton truck off-loaded 200-300 slaughtered and clubbed to
death seal pups at the Henties Bay Sealing factory,
belonging to seal concession holder for Cape Cross, Albert
Brink. Who according to a media report in 1993 was a former
nature conservation official for the Namibian government.
Since that govt offer to IFAW to buyout the industry in
1993. Where the sealing quota was half of what it is today.
28 sealing workers were each paid $100 a month. Namibia’s
sealing industry has slaughtered and clubbed to death 1
million seal pups, invested $4,5 million in seal processing
factories, secured long term sealing rights for another 1
million seal pups by 2019 and now employ 97 seal clubbing
workers.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA’s appeal for the Humane
Society International’s 9 million members or International
Fund for Animal Welfare’s 3 million members or Seashepherd
International or the World Society for the Protection of
Animal’s members to come on-board – received either no
comment or total refusal.
A fine world the 21st Century is turning out to be.
Especially for the endangered Cape fur seal pups at the tip
of Africa.
Frans Tsheehama of the Namibian fisheries and marine
resources ministry faxed official statement to the media on
6 July 2009. Informing the media that the sealing season
had started on July 1. As reported by over 100 media
publications around the world, with headlines reading,
“Namibian Seal Hunt to Go On, 90,000 to be Clubbed”,
http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/2009/07/06/namibian-seal-hunt-to-go-on-90000-to-be-clubbed.html
Turned out by Day 12 of the 139 day sealing season, to be
one big fat govt-lie.
Held to ransom by one individual’s acceptance of the $14
million dollar sealing industry buyout offer. With one
deal-breaker pre-condition. Not a single seal pup to be
clubbed or killed. Whilst he tries to raise pledges from
around the world.
The Namibian govt’s big fat lie goes further. “The cull is
needed to protect fisheries”. Yet, did and said nothing
when Australian Hatem Yavuz Namibian Sealing industry only
killed and bought 23 000 pup skins on an 85 000 pup quota
to “protect fisheries”. Losing govt levies on each 62 000
‘non -fish eating’ seal pups not harvested.
In fact costing the commercial fishing industry billions of
dollars, who equally said nothing. When non-culled baby
seal pups that remained continued to allegedly eat 73
percent of the 900 000 tons govt claims the cull prevents
baby seals from eating. When, “The government has said
seals consume 900,000 tons of fish each year, more than a
third of the fishing industry’s catch, and that the cull is
needed to protect fisheries”.
Govt’s big fat lie gets even worse. When it allowed Hatem
Yavuz to accept a late order for 10 000 Cape fur seal pup
skins from a Canadian seal fur skin buyer. After sealing
season had closed in November 2008. Which required the
sealers to go out and club these pups at Wolf/Atlas bay
seal colony for 2 months during the 2009 seal pup breeding
season in December. Which is in violation of the sealing
regulations. The reason for this. Hatem Yavuz did not want
to sell this buyer any of 23 000 skins he had harvested and
clubbed to death at the Cape Cross seal colony. As these
pup skins were fatter. To supply this Canadian fur buyer,
who already had 20 000 unused Harp seal pup skins from the
Canadian seal hunt in March. Hatem decided to sell him 10
000 seal pup skins of inferior quality, from the weaker,
thinner seal pups at the colony at Wolf/Atlas Bay area in
the south. This deal apparently back-fired when the
Canadian fur buyer, soon after receiving the 10 000
inferior and thin Cape fur seal pup skins. Fur business
collapsed, and asked Hatem to buy back all 10 000 Cape fur
seal pup skins, and the unsold 20 000 Harps seal skins he
had acquired earlier from the Canadian sealers.
And what did Govt do ? Absolutely nothing.
In this clearly collapsed seal skin buyers market. Clearly
a time for investors in seal futures to buy. What did IFAW
or HSI do – Absolutely nothing. No offer, no discussion
with anyone. No Buyout.
Did it withdraw Hatem’s sealing rights or reduce the pup
quota for 2009. You guessed it – NO ?
Govt Lies, Seal Pups Clubbed and Big ‘Anti-Seal Hunt Ngo’s’
Stingy
Whilst Animal Planet’s blog
blogs.discovery.com/2009/07/clubbing-seal-pups-insanity.html
reports that “The Humane Society International supports
banning seal products and preventing seal clubbing as does
Sea Shepherd International”. With Animal Planet airing to
millions of viewers around the world, Seashepherd’s Whale
Wars 2 season, with a third season to follow. Attracting
millions of potential supporters to Sea Shepherd
International membership. Its founder and president Paul
Watson has said, “The Namibians are not going to get their
$14 million. They are not going to get a dime”.
Humane Society International, CEO’s with their million
dollar salary packages, apparently support this view as
well. Even though if their 11 million members each donated
$1. HSI could accept the $14 million dollar offer and buy
out the Namibian sealing industry without blinking an eye.
A video interview with Rebecca Aldworth of HSI in October
2006, stated the following, “Francois Hugo is an activist
who is working in South Africa to put an end to the
Namibian seal Cull and he has done some fantastic things in
terms of getting the word out about this hunt that most
people were unaware was going on”. “The Namibian seal hunt
is particularly cruel, its an absolutely unsustainable
hunt. It cannot continue for the survival of that seal
population and it can’t continue because of the cruelty
involved”. HSI believes in a License Retirement Program.
“Its been implemented in many other fisheries around the
world, it’s a system whereby govt buys back the licenses of
the hunters and HSI has already suggested this program in
Canada – we would be very anxious to sit down at the table
of anyone who would be willing to talk to us in Namibia
about doing the same thing. The good news is the Namibian
government has already talked about a buyout, that means
there’s political will there to do exactly that”. “Yes we
do have some funds, but I think – in addition to that we
have a membership of over 9 million, all of whom contribute
to programs like this”. “We have a lot of individual
donors, some of whom are quite wealthy, and are anxious to
do away with seal hunting around the world”. “So there are
stakeholders that will contribute, there are corporations
that will contribute to this kind of a program”. “We are
stakeholders in this, we are here to stop seal hunting
around the world”.
Clearly these were just PR words. The Namibian sealers
buyout offer in 2009. Which in order to sell their rights
requires govt approval and consent. At $14 a seal. It
obviously considered to high a price for HSI. As they have
made no contact with Francois Hugo, Namibian sealing
industry or govt.
Equally. International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
anti-seal hunt and stop-the-seal-hunt campaigns which has
seen 1,5 billion US dollars flow into their bank accounts
since the 1970s via its 3 million annual supporter
membership base. Could simply send out an appeal to its 3
million membership, asking each, to donate, once $5.
So immoral, greedy and cruel has Hatem Yavuz become. That
he is undecided whether to accept Francois Hugo’s offer to
buy up the sealing quota for the 2009 sealing season for
the seal pups at Wolf/Atlas Bay. An offer which pays Hatem
the same amount he would pay for the seal skins to not buy
them, and leave the seal pups alone this season.
Perhaps the world is not ready, for the world’s largest
seal pup hunt to end. It is too financially lucrative
‘talking’ about it ending.
Club On ! and keep talking seal supporters and give us all
your moooooney. Appears to be the moral of the story !
13.7 billion year’s interview with Francois Hugo and be
read here at
http://www.13point7billion.org/2009/07/137-billion-years-exclusive-interview.html
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * .*
WHY
WE SHOULD NEVER KILL THEM
-YOUTUBE
GO TO
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
*
. * . *
From:
Seal Alert-SA
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 1:08 AM
Subject: Namibia : Seal Cull NOT Started, Hang-in There
Baby Seals, Help Coming
Invitation to HSI and WSPA to approach Namibian govt -
Francois.
Seal
Alert-SA, Media Release, 7th July 2009
Namibia :
Seal Cull NOT Started,
Hang-in
There Baby Seals,
Help Coming
Live
or Die, Business Will Decide
22-minutes
ago, News24 reports amongst 70 other media
publications, that the, "Namibian seal hunt will go
on",
www.news24.com/Namibian_seal_hunt_will_go_on.
The National newspaper
reported more in depth, "$14 million deal to end seal
cull",
www.thenational.ae/FOREIGN/NEWS .
It is the end of
6th Day in Africa, and still the seal cull has
not started. No seal pups have been killed.
Namibian govt
officials can tell the media what they like, but govt does
not do the baby seal pup clubbing, business does, and the
business of ending the seal cull, has not been concluded
yet. Business will decide whether the seal cull starts or
ends, not govt fisheries officials.
The Seal 'business' in
Namibia is dead. World economic slump, bans in the US and
EU, poor demand for luxury fur fashion goods, no
fur buyers, surplus of unsold seal skins, a
declining seal population - and a sealing industry that
wants to sell-out for $14 million. Something the Namibian
govt must now come to terms with, and now look at
alternative economic solutions.
Clubbing cruelly these
seal pups is senseless and idiotic, as Namibia's last fur
buyer, still has 20 000 skins from the 23 000 he bought in
2008, and cannot even sell these, and has placed no orders
for 2009.
Whilst Seal Alert-SA
bangs on the back-door to end the cull and continues its
efforts to publicly raise $14 million US dollars to buyout
the industry, it has now asked the World Society for
Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Humane Society
International (HSI) to politely knock on the
front-door of the Namibian Govt, and make it an offer
nobody can refuse.
Since Namibia became
independent in 1990, and revived the seal culling industry,
issuing the rights and quotas to two sealing concession
holders to club 930 000 seal pups cruelly to death. The
sealing industry has cost govt lost revenue. Killing only
610 000 seal pups of their quota. Seal harvesting have only
managed to fill 60 percent of their annual quota since
1990, causing govt to loose the 40 percent
revenue it gets from each pup killed.
In 2008, govt lost
even more, with seal harvesting yielding only 23 000 pups
on an 85 000 pup quota.
Seal Alert-SA asks
WSPA and HSI whom was at my meeting with the Prime Minister
and Ministry of Fisheries in 2007, to come forward and
immediately offer the Namibian government a deal, that it
cannot legally refuse.
The front-door
deal is. Offer to take over the sealing rights and annual
quotas for this seal resource until rights end in 2019.
Paying govt upfront for the full levies on each seal in the
quota that govt derives its revenue from. Legislated at N$2
Namibian dollars (.25 US cents) a seal pup and N$6 Namibian
dollars (.75 US cents) per bull for the full quota.
This would
amount to N$170 000 Namibian dollars for the 85 000 pups
and N$36 000 Namibian dollars for the 6000 bulls each
season. These annual quota levies which amounts to $25 000
USD dollars per year, to be guaranteed until Sealing Rights
end in 2019. In addition, as govt has repeatedly stated,
that the cull is a necessity under the constitution as it
creates jobs for the unskilled and unemployed 97 workers in
the industry. To offer to re-train, re-skill and offer
these seal-clubbers full time employment in their new
position, year round as "Seal Protectors and Seal
Colony Monitors", whose jobs would be to protect the seal
colonies from disturbance from the sealing industry and
increasing tourism. Whose jobs costing N$ 2 million
Namibian dollars ($230 000 US dollars) a year, to be
equally guarantied for ten years, until 2019.
Seal Alert-SA
suggests WSPA offers the govt to put $2 million US dollars
in a trust to guarantee govt levies on quota and the cover
workers salaries for 10 years, until 2019, and match any
and all benefits that the sealing industry offers its
workers, if any. Seal Alert then through its supporters
will assist WSPA and HSI to fund the annual levies and
'seal protectors' salaries, totaling $230 000 US
dollars through online pledges and donations.
Its a $260 000
US dollars a year deal until 2019, which a surety
of $2 million dollars sitting in a Namibian npo
trust.
Namibian Prime
Minister Nahas Angula shoved the Namibian Constitution
Booklet repeatedly in my face, which he co-wrote, stating I
must find a solution within the constitution. Well, PM this
is it, "the constitution of Namibia allows for the
sustainable utilization of the living natural resources
(seals), slide 2, confirms your policy of either
consumptive (culling) or non-consumptive". The offer from
either the back-door or front-door is in line with the
constitution's non-consumptive approach to seals. Nowhere
does the constitution state govt must harvest or kill
seals.
govt
presentation to Seal Alert in 2007
Can govt legally
accept the 'front-door' offer ? Marine Resource
Act of 2000, states, "The Minister whenever he is of the
opinion that it is in the interest of the promotion,
protection or utilization on a sustainable basis of a
particular resource, at any time, suspend, cancel or .....
of such rights, quota or license".
Can Seal Alert-SA
succeeded with the 'back-door' offer ? Marine Resources Act
of 2000, states, "No right may be transferred to another
person except with the approval of the Minister, but such
approval may only be granted if the quota connected with
the right is also transferred to the same person".
If the Namibian
Sealing Industry cannot deliver on their offer of $14
million buyout to end sealing with the Minister's consent,
I will have to look at extortion and attempted fraud
charges.
Namibian sealing
industry has sealing rights until 2019 to kill a million
seal pups, their offer to Seal Alert is 14 Million US
dollars in a buyout..
This would be in line
with the policy of the department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism sign-board at the entrance to the Cape Cross
Sealing colony, where it urges, "people to help protect the
seal colony".
Fisheries officials
comments that clubbing nursing seal pups is a necessity to
manage the seal population to protect fisheries is
non-nonsensical and once again idiotic. As the cull exempts
breeding cows and all ages of fish eating seals, as no
market exists for its skins or products. Equally, South
Africa has proven nature more than effectively manages the
seal population, which has seen no increase in its seal
population after stopping its commercial cull in 1990.
Pups washing off rocks
and drowning, jackals predation on mainland colonies, and
shark predation at sea and around island seal colonies,
together with several mass die-off incidents since 1994, is
all nature's way of controlling the population without the
need for human intervention.
As an already UN
listed endangered species since 1977, with 23 former island
colonies extinct. Govt should take the offer to protect and
not club.
The non-consumptive
solution.
Seal Alert urges all
supporters to keep sending in pledges, and no donations
please, this fight is a long way from being over.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release 25 June
2009
Seal Alert-SA
in Talks to Buy-out Namibian Sealing
Industry,
end the Seal
Cull and Save Cape fur seal Species
Namibian
sealers getting ready to club seal pups on 1 July 2009
Days before the world's
largest seal cull is about to begin on 1 July. Francois
Hugo of Seal Alert-SA receives offer from Namibia's last
seal skin buyer, Hatem Yavuz to purchase Namibia's sealing
industry lock, stock and barrel.
Talks are underway, and Seal
Alert-SA plans to after ending the seal cull in Namibia,
turn the sealing factories into Seal Museum's for
tourists, any revenue obtained to go towards scientific
research on Cape fur seals to assist Namibian government
further its protection of this species. I have asked for
the seal cull to be halted whilst discussions and
agreements are being finalized.
Thereafter I will turn my
attention to returning seals to extinct former seal islands
and assist Namibia where ever possible to protect this
species.
Seal Alert-SA also publicly
appealing for any financial partners to come forward to
help to make this a reality.
Its right for Namibia, the
Namibian Sealers, the fur buyer and the Cape fur seals -
and the world will be pleased.
South Africa stopped its seal cull
in 1990, and with this development the commercial culling
of this species will be for the history books, ending 500
years of cruelty.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
From:
sasealion@wam.co.za
Subject:
Re: Seal
Alert-SA - Why Namibia's Seal Pup Cull is the Cruellest,
and must be Stopped
Date:
June 23, 2009
Thanks
Antifursociety and all for this tremendous help, including
Phil Wollen for his initial support on this - Francois Hugo
Seal Alert-SA
We
are now joining Seal Alert in South Africa
against the brutal killing of baby seals in
Namibia
SEND
AN EMAIL TO STOP NAMIBIA BABY SEAL SLAUGHTER:
If
this link is not working, please send the letter mannually.
THANK YOU!
http://antifursocietyinternational.org/n_seals/seals.html
EMAIL: hatemyavuz@superonline.com
Dear Hatem Yavuz of Australia,
As a Namibian Cape fur seal buyer you have recently hit the
press, but not in a way you ought to be proud of as you
have now become the primary supporter of one of the most
cruel and violent trade: Namibia's Cape Fur Seal
skins. Since the Canada lost its seal trade in Europe
because of the EU's seal trade ban, Namibia has now become
the largest seal hunter in the world, claiming notoriety as
the world seal pups killer. Whether you like it or not, you
as the primary buyer is directly responsible for the
continuation of the brutal killings of seal pups. If
there is any doubt in your mind as to the exact cruelty
involved in the killing of these infant animals, A report
was compiled after extensive research done by the European
Food Safety Authority and outlines welfare issues
surrounding the killing of seal which concluded that the
killings are unnecessarily cruel and unacceptable.
The skins are sold to you at very low prices, and the seal
clubbers receive derisive wages, and are even forced to
live in cardboards. You not only are being
responsible for the cruel killings of seal pups, but are
also contributing with labor exploitation. If you do not
care for the welfare of the animals, you could at least
consider the workers welfare. These seasonal workers are
poor - not immune to emotions, and certainly the brutal
killings will affect them psychologically. All the
while those who profit from their trauma sit in luxury
getting their hands dirty only by the immoral background of
their income.
Footage of these dwellings is available here
http://www.ecoeye.org/ecoeye/Film%20database/CF593352-3B8E-49EB-9029-C9D60D2A3A6A.html
Apart from the inhumane aspects of the brutal killings, the
annual seal cull lasts for 139 days in Namibia, and it
immensely disturbs the seal breeding behaviour in the
colonies, causing them to collapse. This in turn
destroys the seal viewing ecotourism. If the toursim
industry is given a chance to grow, the then former
seal-clubbers will be absorbed with permanent touristic
jobs. You are currently receiving a lot of bad
publicity, and it will not go away until you have
reconsidered and pulled yourself out of such a bloody and
cruel business. You are a very intelligent and
ingenious man, and certainly can find other sources to
continue acquiring wealth without getting yourself inside
of such a despicable world: The bloody fur trade.
PLEASE HELP STOP THE BLOODY SEAL PUP SKIN
TRADE!
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Seal Alert-SA
Sent:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:41 PM
Subject:
Seal Alert-SA - Why Namibia's Seal Pup Cull is the
Cruellest, and must be Stopped
Seal Alert-SA Media Release, 24 June 2009
Why Namibia's Seal Pup Cull is the Cruellest, and must be
Stopped
Namibia's
seal cull a threat to the survival of the species
Like the US and
EU Seal product import bans have stated, clubbing to
death of any wild seal species in the wild is cruel and
inhumane. Many equally feel the larger the number of seals
clubbed to death the greater the obvious
cruelty.
The recent EU
all seal species import product ban looked primarily
at the point of killing. Had the EU examined each
species more deeply, it would have found Namibia's seal
pup cull the cruellest on earth.
There is a
distinct difference between the Canadian Seal Hunt and the
Namibian Seal Cull. A cull by definition seeks to destroy a
seal population by reducing it. A hunt on the otherhand is
more selective and driven by commercial
exploitation. A cull therefore effects the species,
whereas a hunt, the individual animal.
The Cape fur
seals are listed as an endangered species by the United
Nations - Convention in Trade of Endangered Species (CITES)
to which 173 countries are signatory to, whereas the harp
seals are not considered endangered.
Namibia's seal
cull starts on 1 July 2009, and involves 85 000 pups and
6000 bulls.
Approximately
5,5 million Harp seals, a true seal species, which spends
most of its life at sea, like a fish, are found living in
the arctic waters. In March, 1,4 million harp seal
cows migrate south to the recently formed ice floes, to
give birth. The ice floes off Canada then become a
seal pup nursery and not a year round breeding seal
colony . Where 1,4 million cows give birth to 1,4
million pups. Canadian DFO then awards a sealing quota of
320 000. Approximately 23 percent of the pups born. Sealers
then have to wait, until most of the pups have been weaned
and there is about a 3 percent mortality within this
period. Weaning takes place after the seal pup is
born, it suckles on its mother, for 21 days trebling
its weight to 40kg, and is then abandoned by the cow and
left to complete its moult, living off its own fat reserves
and learning to leave the ice to hunt before migrating
north. It is at this point, that sealers are then permitted
to go out and hunt the seal pups. As these seal pups are
spread out over a vast distance on shifting ice floes,
sealers use boats to reach the pups. If the pup is
disturbed by the sealing activity and escapes it can
survive, as it does not need to return to the ice floe and
is weaned. According to DFO, sealers can club or shoot the
pups. 10 percent of the pups are clubbed and the
remaining 90 percent is shot, as it appears, the seal pups
are killed easier via shooting each pup on an ice floe,
from a distance. The hunt or the quota is divided into two
sections or two different hunts. The first hunt is normally
over within three weeks, occurs in the Gulf of St Lawrence
and involves mostly pups. After this, the balance of the
quota, which can be substantial is applied to harp seals of
all age groups, and the hunt takes place further north in
the Front, as it is by then, that all the seal pups have
left the ice floes and migrated north. The hunt therefore
effects the 1,4 million pups for 3 weeks after weaning, and
not the 5,5 million harp seals as a species.
The sealing
countries of Canada, Greenland, Russia and Norway agreed
that killing the nursing seal pups until weaned, to be
cruel, and banned the practice in their sealing regulations
in 1987.
The Cape fur
seals of Namibia, are an entirely different seal species.
Fur seals, are less evolved than true seals like the Harp
seal. What this means is that Cape fur seals require a
permanent seal colony on land, all year round, to give
birth, to mate, to rest, to moult and to raise their pups
over the next 12 months. And, from which they can go out
and hunt each day, before returning to the colony. Their
preferred breeding colonies are therefore the 11 offshore
islands in Namibia, but due to intense sealing in the past,
seals were forced to flee and migrate away from these
island colonies. It is this very fact, which makes the
Namibian seal cull so cruel, as sealing effects the entire
seal population in the colony via massive disturbance for
139 days of each year. The result of this annual
disturbance, forces the seal population to continually flee
their established seal colonies to find new safer,
undisturbed seal colonies. In 2006, 97 percent of the seals
former colonies on islands remained extinct, and instead
seals had colonized 26 breeding colonies
along Namibia's 1650km desert coastline, and on three
of these colonies, 60 percent of the seal pups were born.
The three mainland colonies of Wolf, Atlas and Cape Cross
produced 120 000 seal pups collectively born in December.
Unlike the
Harp seal pups who get weaned after 21 days, the Cape fur
seal pups will suckle from their mothers for the next 12
months, before weaning. Bonding between cow and her pup is
therefore intense. Cows nurse their pups for 2 days, and
then leave the vulnerable unattended pup for 5 days to hunt
continuing this cycle throughout the year. The 120 000 seal
pups are then subjected to unnatural predation from
jackals, where 1 in 4 pups are killed and torn to pieces by
Jackals living on the mainland. According to Namibian
scientists, 44% of the pups born, will during the course of
the next several months, before sealing starts on 1
July, die from either jackal predation, starvation or
abandonment. The 67 000 surviving seal pups, who weigh less
than 15 kg, of the original 120 000, all still
nursing, unable to hunt or eat solids, still reliant upon
nursing, together with the cows, and the whole seal colony
of all age groups, are then subjected to Namibia's annual
sealing quota of 85 000 pups and 6000 bulls.
Unlike the
Canadian seal hunt where 23% of the pups are effected.
Namibia's seal pup quota of 85 000, actually exceeds by 18
000, the number of pups still alive by 1 July and therefore
kills all surviving seal pups in the colony.
For the next 139
days, sealers will invade the entire seal colony, and
forcibly round up and herd together pups and cows.
Disturbing the entire seal colony each day. A seal colony,
which primarily uses the night-time to forage and the
day-light to warm up, regain strength and rest. Most seals,
particularly cows are returning from hunting, when sealers
arrive. Whilst the entire colony is forced to flee the
sealers each morning between 5am and 9am, escaping towards
the sea. Giving many returning seals from a hunt, no rest.
The cows and their pups, will be forced away from the
safety of the seal colony, and prevented from escaping into
the sea, by being driven in-land and held in terrified
groups. Where numerous seal pups die in shock, or from heat
or suffocation trapped under the terrified herd.
Approximately 25 seal clubbers then attempt to club the
seal pups with their escaping mothers, to reach their
85 000 seal pup quota.
Due to the massive
disturbance to the whole seal colony, sealers are only able
to kill 500 - 1000 seal pups, before the entire seal colony
has fled and escaped into the sea. At this moment many
seals of all age groups permanently abandon the
colony, and attempt to find a safer colony elsewhere. Cows
abandon many of their pups, who even if they escaped have
therefore lost their natal colony, are unable to return,
or to hunt or catch their own fish, slowly over the
coming weeks move along the coastline dying from
starvation. The beaches become littered with dead pups.
The next day, the sealers
arrive, and the whole process is repeated. It continues in
this way, until either the 85 000 pup quota is reached or
the entire colony has permanently fled or collapsed.
So regardless of the cruelty
associated in the "kill zone", the very presence of sealers
in the breeding seal colony for 139 days causes immense
side-effects to the health and conservation of the colony,
and has numerous by-product cruelty related issues. As the
quota involves 60 percent of the breeding population, the
species as well.
Unlike the northern
hemisphere sealing countries, which ban killing a nursing
seal pup and allows seal pups after weaning to be shot.
Namibian sealing regulations require that sealers may only
club the seal pups. No shooting of pups is allowed.
So whereas Canada's 320 000
sealing quota, will involve 10 percent or 32 000 pups being
clubbed, Namibia will club all the surviving 67 000 pups in
an attempt to reach the 85 000 pup quota.
In addition, sealers are
given a quota to shoot 6000 bulls for their genitals, and
an unknown number of permits is given to trophy hunters to
shoot bulls seal with rifles or bow & arrows, for sport
or trophies. In addition, 100 000 tourists are permitted to
visit these sealing colonies after the clubbing has ended
each morning, when the seal colony is then opened to
paying tourists at 10am.
It is for these reasons,
that the Namibian seal hunt is the cruelest in the world,
and on 1 July 2009, will become the world's largest, as
Canadian sealers this year killed 60 000.
It is time international
efforts are brought severely down on Namibia and its two
sealing rights holders.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release, 17 June
2009,
13
days to go to the world's largest seal slaughter on
earth
Namibian State Owned Govt Newspaper Hides US & EU Seal
Product Import Ban
&
Australian Last Seal Skin Buyer
Connection
&
The Millions Seal Watching Has Generated For Namibian
Govt
To
Continue Largest Seal Slaughter On Earth
Tourist
Fur Seal Viewing Revenue Generating Millions for
Governments
To the best of my knowledge, not a single mainstream
newspaper or TV program in Namibia has reported on the EU
Seal Product Import ban vote in May 2009, although the EU
is Namibia's largest trading and tourism partner.
In the past week, state
owned New Era newspaper, days before the world's largest
seal cull of baby seal pups is to begin on Namibia's
beaches, it publishes three misleading articles by the same
reporter, this first claims, "Namibian Seal Products
Feature in Turkey - by Desie Heita", claiming Namibian
seal pup skins makes the best fur jackets and sales are
booming, completely concealing that exports to the EU are
being routed through Turkey who is not an EU member,
to avoid the EU Seal import ban. Its second article, "Seal
Fur An Investor’s Gold Mine - by Desie Heita", once
again ignores US and EU Seal import bans, and purports to
suggest huge profits can be made by investors in Seal fur,
as Namibian seal skin fur jackets sells for 100 000 Euros
and that by doing so it will help impoverished poor
Namibians. Yet, foolishly ignores that even the prices
quoted in Euros is banned. Citing an Australian fur trader
sales claims, completely ignoring that this fur buyer,
actually stopped buying Namibian seal skins in 2008, and
has no plans to re-order as the market is dead or that he
was the sole seal skin buyer in 2008.
What the Namibian government state
owned newspaper is desperately trying to indirectly
advertise is for a seal skin buyer to come forward, as
Namibia has no buyers for its 2009 sealing season, the
largest seal hunt in the world.
New Era newspaper's third article,
"Animal Activists Threaten Anti-Seal Hunting Demos - by
Desie Heit", http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=4967,
even after requesting details from Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA in her email, and then given all the facts
regarding the EU Seal import product ban, and that the
Namibian seal clubbers are so poor they are living in
cardboard shacks earning peanuts from sealing, or that the
Australian fur buyer, Namibia's last buyer of seal skins,
has stated he has stopped buying seal skins from Namibia,
the reporter still continues to conceal to her
Namibian readers, the citizens that voted the current
government into power, about the EU Seal product import
ban.
Is this how state run and owned
newspapers in Namibia objectively inform their citizens,
for I quote from their website, "As one of the leading
national news and information institutions, New Era
Publication Corporation, a wholly-owned publishing house of
the Government of the Republic of Namibia, is committed to
providing an objective and factual information service to
various readership groups, within its authorising
environment. The Corporation, established in terms of the
New Era Publication Corporation Act, No1 of 1992, publishes
a newspaper titled New Era, that contains well-researched
and in-depth news and feature articles on political,
socio-economic, cultural, governmental and developmental
issues of national, regional and international
significance".
As per the above, is this state owned
newspaper upholding its own mission statement, the reading
of it's vision statement is even worse in context, "We see
all Namibians having access to the information they require
to enable them to take individual and collective
responsibility and decisions to be able to participate in
an open democratic society at socio-political, cultural and
economic levels".
So hiding a major EU developed that voted
overwhelming 550 - 49, that specifically listed the
Namibian Seal Hunt as the second largest in the world to
ban all Namibian Cape fur seal product imports due to
the cruelty involved in herding and clubbing these wild
endangered seals, is an "open democratic society",
according to the state owned New Era newspaper?
So deep and distorted is this Namibian
government concealment of the true issues surrounding the
world's largest seal cull, that and I quote, "In 2007, Hugo
was accorded the opportunity to present his case before
Prime Minister Nahas Angula as well as with the Minister of
Fisheries and Marine Resources. Government has since asked
for the animal movement to present an alternative method of
culling seals, rather than clubbing", that it even goes
right up to the highest office and directly to the Prime
Minister of Namibia himself.
As per the chart above, the Prime Minister
of Namibia was fully informed of the alternative to seal
culling in my meeting with him in 2007, that being, the
very lucrative, growing, sustainable job creation industry
obtained by tourists paying to view fur seals.
With over 1,3 million tourist paying to view fur seals
in the southern hemisphere in the wild, Cape fur seal
viewing comes out tops, with over 400 000 tourists.
Generating directly for governments 12,5 million US
dollars or in the case of Cape fur seals in Namibia and
South Africa, 5,1 million US dollars or over 40 million
Namibian dollars. Which is 8-times the revenue generated
by Namibia's sealing industry, of which government
only gets 206 000 Namibian dollars in revenue from the
sealers.
The scientific comment in this publication
states further, and I quote, "In this estimate of the value
of this seal focused tourism industry in the southern
hemisphere, we present only ticket payments to tour
operators or governments. Commonly when estimating the
value of a particular tourist enterprise, researchers
incorporate a multiplier of 10 to 20 times gate takings, to
account for additional purchases, food, transport and
accommodation. We do not attempt this here, as we believe
the standard figures will be the most useful in monitoring
future trends".
So in fact, based on this scientific comment,
Cape fur seals via eco-tourism generates in fact, 400
million to 800 million Namibian dollars for the governments
of Namibia and South Africa - whereas the world's largest
seal cull generates just 5 million Namibian dollars, and
this is with a 150% increase by Namibia's last seal skin
buyer, whilst the Namibian government only receives 206 000
Namibian dollars in revenue from the sealing industry
itself..
How much of a threat is commercial seal
culling to this 400 - 800 million dollar seal
eco-tourism and job creating industry and this endangered
species themselves. All seal colonies originated from
offshore islands, where all sealing operations equally took
place. Sealing exterminated these colonies, causing 98% of
this seal habitat to go permanently extinct. Sealing no
longer takes place on the islands, sealing has now moved to
the mainland, to which the remaining seal herd's fled.
The largest offshore seal colony in South
Africa, is an island known as Seal Island in False
Bay, where 60 000 seals live. It is 2 ha in size, or 100
metres by 200 metres. In Namibia, there is also a small
island called Seal Island in Luderitz Bay, its extinct, but
at 44 ha, it is 22 times larger than the Seal Island
in South Africa. Which means it historically could have
accommodated 22 times the 60 000 seals living on the 2 ha
island in South Africa. This would imply, that 1,3 million
seals used to live on this one island, called Seal Island
in Namibia.
Namibia's current seal population, its total
seal population along a coastline stretching 1650 km, which
according to the Namibian government numbers 850 000 seals,
could all fit on this one single and very small island
off the Namibian desert coast. The size of this former Seal
Island, 500 metres by 800 metres.
Namibia on 1 July 2009, will
commence the world's largest seal cull, of a seal
population that has effectively been ecologically reduced
to the size of just 500 metres by 800 metres.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release, 16 June 2009,
The
Australian 'Gold Mine' Connection To Namibia's 'Bogus'
Sealing Industry
Cardboard
shacks of Namibia's 120 unemployed,
poor and destitute Baby Seal Clubbers
Over the years I have become accustomed to Namibian
Ministry of Fisheries officials at the highest level
officially supplying 'bogus' statements and data to prop up
and support this cruel baby seal bashing industry that
should have ended in 1972 when the US banned Cape fur seal
product imports from South Africa and Namibia. Instead,
millions of baby seal pups have continued to be slaughtered
in a clear extermination plan of this endangered seal
species. A seal species found nowhere else on earth and
effectively reduced to the size of 500 metres by 800
metres.
One of the most
glaring, is the claim that Cape Cross seal colony in 2007,
Namibia's largest seal colony and largest tourist
attraction, which attracts 100 000 international visitors
each year, earning for the Namibian government who sells
the visitor's viewing permits, earning over 4 million
Namibian dollars in ticket sales alone as opposed to the
206 000 Namibian dollars derived from the sealing industry,
recorded its highest number of pups born, and could
therefore support the largest seal pup culling quota on
record of 85 000. To then become the largest seal cull in
the world. For Seal Alert-SA to then discover after my
meeting with the Namibian Prime Minister, that flying over
the seal colony, just 40 days into the 139 day sealing
season, the seal colony was completely deserted with
tourists filmed standing where the seal colony once
was.
Although the Namibia
relies heavily on foreign aid and investment from the EU,
its largest tourism partner. The recent 27 country EU, 550
- 49 parliamentary vote in May 2009 to ban all Namibian
Cape fur seals product imports due to its cruelty, was
ignored in general by Namibian media.
Days before Namibia,
the least populated country on earth is about to start the
largest Seal Cull in the world on 1 July 2009, whose seal
products are banned in 31 countries, including the US and
EU . The state owned New Era newspaper releases an
article, "Namibian Seal Products Feature in Turkey - by
Desie Heita"
www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=4782,
claiming "Namibian seal products that are processed in
Turkey and turned into the best and most pricey fur
jackets". The article attempts to claim that one fur seal
skin buyer, Hatem Yavuz whose business logo on his website
reads, "skins are our business" is doing a roaring trade
with Namibian sealers. Claiming further trade with Turkey
over the past 6 years exceeds 1 billion Namibian dollars.
Clearly the purchases and exports to Turkey, who is not a
member of the EU, is in fact an excuse to side-step the EU
Seal Product import ban. Is this legal smuggling
?
Hatem Yavuz's email to
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA, the organization leading
the international campaign to end Namibia's Seal Cull,
reads differently, 10th June 2009, "I have already stopped
the purchase of Namibian seals which were supplied by
Norway and Canadian co since December 08, due to the
economic fallout we have in general stopped furs, I don't
understand why the fuss. I am not the one buying the raw
skin". In another email dated 8th June 2009, it reads,
"However we purchased for 3 years dressed seals that was
offered to us from Canada,Norway,Greenland and Namibia
itself. The current eco crisis has led us to halt buying
many fur products". In another email dated 10th June 2009,
"Do you have a contact number.....for a short talk". In
this short 1 hour talk from Australia, Hatem Yavuz claimed
to have started purchasing Namibian seal skins in 2006.
CITES (Convention In Trade of Endangered Species) trade
database confirms that Hatem Yavuz's purchased 48% of
Namibia's seal skin exports in 2006, this rose to 60% in
2007, and then as per his telcomm conversation, he was the
only Namibian seal skin buyer willing to purchase Namibian
seal skins in 2008, and purchased 23 000 seal skins,
as this is
all the Namibian sealers had managed to harvest on a seal
pup quota of 85 000. Confirming
his email above, that he has stopped purchasing Namibian
seal skins, as he still has some 20 000 skins in stock,
although commenting that he has been contacted by both
Namibian sealers and government and urged to place orders
for 2009 season, which he has declined.
A week later, the same
reporter and newspaper releases another article on 15th
June 2009, "Seal Fur An Investor’s Gold Mine - by Desie
Heita"
www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=4948.
In this article a number of
'bogus' statements are made and Seal Alert-SA would
therefore like to set the record straight.
Although the article was
published on the 15th June 2009, and I quote, "Meanwhile,
the recent publicity on the group has also attracted the
attention of Seal Alert South Africa, an animal activist
movement based in South Africa that seeks to end the
hunting of seals in Namibia", Seal Alert-SA only
received an email from this reporter after the article on
the same day, it reads, "Dear Mr Hugo, My name is Desie
Heita a reporter with New Era newspaper. If you could
kindly respond to my questions below: -Is it true that Seal
Alert SA has threatened massive boycotts and demonstrations
against Yavuz Group to stop the buying of Namibian seal
fur? -Could you elaborate on this? ". If this reporter knew
I was involved, as the article reads, why did she not
objectively seek comment prior to publication?
"Puppy seals pose the cutest
animals in pictures, and it is no wonder animal activists
often prefer to use puppy seal pictures in anti-fur
campaigns. They strike some sort of endearing pose that
ignites human compassion similar to that of pets".
The simple fact, is Namibia's sealing quota of 91 000
seals, consists of a baby seal pup quota that accounts for
85 000 or 90% of the quota. This method of clubbing baby
seals has been banned throughout the world, except Namibia.
Seal Alert-SA has never used "cute puppy pictures in
the media", all our front page footage shows a baby seal
pup vomiting up white mother's milk in shock
when beaten to death.
"Established in 1975 the Yavuz
Group of companies has been dealing in raw skins, wool and
furs since its establishment in 1975. It is based in
Australia and has establishments in Turkey, Russia and
South Africa."
Hatem Yavuz's own telcomm contradicts this somewhat, in
which he claims he only started purchasing Namibian seal
skins in 2006.
"For
Namibian seal harvesters, dead seals earn them attractive
foreign earnings. The Yavuz Group, which imports sealskins
from Namibia, cites foreign earnings as one of the benefits
of its engagement in the Namibian seal harvesting
industry."
The articles goes on to say, "Up until our
involvement, Namibian seal harvesters received
scanty
payments for their products. We
increased the prices of Namibian seal skins by 150 percent,
because of the quality of skins,” says the group director
Hatem Yavuz."
Is the "quality of the skins" referred to, due to the fact,
that sealing regulations require all sealers to club to
death all the seal pups as the only method allowed, to
ensure the quality of the skin ? It has already been
established that Hatem Yavuz only started buying in 2006,
during my meeting with the Ministry of Fisheries in 2007,
it was stated that Namibian sealers revenue on the 91 000
sealing quota, where it was further claimed, 83 071 seals
were harvested, was 5 million Namibian dollars (450 000
Euros). If we then subtract Hatem Yavuz's 150 percent,
prior to 2006, Namibian sealers were earning 24 Namibian
dollars for each dead seal prior to Yavuz's involvement or
just 2 Euros.
Hatem
Yavuz's then 150 percent claimed increase due to the
quality of the skins, in reality, turns a dead
endangered seal pup skin, into a 5 euro skin over the last
3 years, hardly a massive improvement, considering harp
seal skins in Canada fell from USD $100 to just $14, but as
Namibia's sole seal skin buyer, one has to wonder how long
he will continue to offer this now that he has the world
market control over Namibian fur seal skins. Already he has
confirmed he is no longer buying Namibian seal
skins.
The article goes on to say, "Prices for
the fur jacket range from 5,000 Euro and depending on the
quality and the make, the jacket could carry double-digit
price figures of just below the 100,000 Euro mark".
Namibian Ministry of Fisheries, official Seals Press
Release in 2007, refute these claims, and I quote, "Seal
harvesting is an economic activity and can not be done
away with. Sealing industry in Namibia sustain about
140 direct jobs of the
unemployed, poor and destitute.
It is our obligation to ensure that they have a future.
Seal Alert-SA is encouraged to meet them and witness how
the sealing industry has added value to their
lives".
This is further contradicted, in the article. on 13th May
2009, in which, "Namibia to
Continue Culling Seals, Says EU Decision ‘Emotional’" with
the Minister of Fisheries stating, The EU is not a market
of note for us,” Iyambo said in Windhoek, the country’s
capital. “It was just an emotional decision".
One has to therefore question why New Era's article quotes
the prices for Namibian fur seal skin jackets selling for
between 5000 and 100 000, in Euros. When knowingly the 27
countries of the EU, has in fact banned the import of all
Namibian seal products, including skins, meat and oil
?
Additionally, Seal Alert-SA did in fact
meet with the sealers in 2007. It found the Namibian seal
clubbers living in cardboard shacks in the desert, no
roads, running water, sanitary or electricity (see pic
above and video tape on
www.ecoeye.org/ecoeye/Film%20database/CF593352-3B8E-49EB-9029-C9D60D2A3A6A.html.
So who benefits from the 100 000 Euros each Namibian fur
seal jacket earns, Hatem Yavuz living in Australia or
Namibian sealers ? By Namibian Ministry of Fisheries
own words, after 17 years of seal harvesting, the "140
sealers remain unemployed, poor and destitute", and only
employed part-time. How much of the 5 Euros for each beaten
to death clubbed seal pup, do the Namibian sealers in
Namibia actually receive or does the bulk of the 5 million
Namibian dollars the sealing industry earned from beating
to death 91 000 endangered seals go straight into the
pockets of two white controlling sealing rights holders,
that have other business interests.
The article continues, "We are now
receiving calls from interested investors asking all sorts
of questions regarding investment opportunities. For us it
has given us leverage to enter into other businesses in
Namibia. We are looking at entering food processing and
production as well as mining in Namibia. These would be set
up in the country,” says Yavuz".
Seal Alert-SA draws a word of caution. Naturally from such
lucrative 5 euro investments, exploitive profit
investors would be asking questions, but is that task of
the Prime Minister of Namibia to exploit his country's
living endangered seals, by making them dead fur jackets
for peanuts, but also his fellow Namibian citizens,
who elected him to office, so that one individual living in
Australia can profit huge sums for his personal private
gain. I thought independence meant freeing Namibian's from
this type of exploitation, it is just a pity, the Namibian
seal clubbers do not get or read their own local
newspapers, and see how their work earns 100 000 Euros,
whilst they live in cardboard shacks in the desert and earn
peanuts.
Its no wonder Namibia remains a third world banana republic
of independence. Whilst Cape fur seals annually generate
sustainable, proper work and income, that sees, over 500
000 visitors paying 50 million Namibian dollars for the
simply pleasure of viewing this natural wildlife species
found nowhere else on earth get exterminated from the
earth.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA, Media Release 15 June 2009.
15 days to go to the largest Seal Hunt in the World, now
taking place in Namibia.
NAMIBIA -
Following EU Seal Product Import Ban,
Buyer's
of Fur Skins from the World's Largest Seal Hunt,
can't be Found
85
000 endangered mother's milk drinking baby Cape fur seals
clubbed and stabbed to death on Namibia's coastline,
starting 1 July
Hatem
Yavuz Group, "Skins are our business" Namibia's last seal
skin buyer
Namibia
: On 1 July
2009, the least populated country on earth along the oldest
desert in the world, who maintains it's constitution allows
it conduct the largest cull of wildlife on the African
continent - will become the world's largest seal hunt in
the world and yet had only one buyer for skins in 2008, and
cannot find a buyer for the 2009 season.
So small has Namibia's seal
population been reduced to ecologically by commercial
sealing, its entire seal population could fit on one small
44 ha island (an area measuring 500 m x 800m), along a
coastline of over 1600 km, already 98% of seals former
colonies on islands have been exterminated and today remain
extinct. In comparison, South Africa's largest offshore
seal colonies sits on only 2 ha, and has 60 000 seals on
it.
Namibia's total seal
population which could fit in an area measuring 500 metres
by 800 metres, is considered such a threat to Namibia's
industrial fisheries, that all it's seal babies
born each year must be exterminated in an annual
cull.
Namibian scientists in 2007,
confirmed the seal pups in Namibia have suffered an average
natural mortality since 1990 of 44% each year, prior to
start of sealing season on 1 July, subtracting this from
the seal pups born on the sealing colonies, Namibia's seal
pup quota exceeds the number of pups alive.
An Australian Company is behind
the World's largest and Cruelest Seal cull. Seal Alert-SA
has launched an international campaign to expose and
pressure Namibia's only remaining seal skin buyer - Hatem
Yavuz Group (43 A Ethel St, Seaforth N.S.W, Sydney -
AUSTRALIA. Tel +61 (02) 9948 5366, Fax +61 (02) 9948 5377.
Owner Hatem Yavuz, email hatemyavuz@superonline.com, with
offices in Turkey, Russia and South Africa, whose head
office is in Australia, but does his purchases through
Turkey to possibly avoid the EU seal import ban, as Turkey
is not a member of the EU. To accept world opinion and that
of his own government in Australia, and that of the US and
the EU, that has banned Namibian commercial seal culls and
their product imports due to the cruelty involved.
Hatem Yavuz's sole purchaser of
Namibia's Cape fur seal skins in 2008, makes this
Australian company the sole reason for the continued
financial viability of Namibia's two sealing company's
and their part-time 120 baby seal clubbers conducting the
cruelest baby seal cull on earth. Interestingly the
Australian fur seals which have not been commercially
harvested since 1975, are a sub-species of Cape fur seals.
Hatem Yavuz is the man,
effectively behind the last baby seal cull on earth, which
is also now the world's largest seal cull and cruelest.
Seal Alert-SA's 2009 campaign
"Hate' em Stop
Buying Namibian Seal Skins" is asking Hatem Yavuz and
his company the Hatem Yavuz Group to issue a public
statement accepting the cruelty involved in Namibia's seal
cull (As stated by the US and EU governments) and ethically
undertaking never to purchase Namibian Cape fur seal skins
again, as already seal culling has seen 98% of seal's
former colonies on islands, collapse and become extinct,
and is currently driving the remaining seal herd's towards
extinction on the mainland.
The world market for seal skins,
particularly Namibian Cape fur seal skins is dead, but
Namibia refuses to announce an end to its cruel seal
clubbing policies.
Although Canada used to have the
previous distinction, with a sealing quota of 320 000 on a
population DFO believes is over 5 million harp seals,
Canadian sealers in March this year, slaughtered 60
000 due to pending EU Seal product import
ban, collapsed market and a decline in seal skin
prices.
On 1 July, Namibia's total
seal population on 26 seal colonies, which could all
fit on just one island off Namibian desert
coastline of just 44 ha in size (which still lies
extinct), and whose population is five-times smaller
than the Canadian harp seal population, will be subjected
to a sealing quota of 85 000 pups and 6000
bulls. The 91 000 Cape fur seals to be
slaughtered within a few weeks, mostly baby seal pups, will
give Namibia the distinction of, the largest seal hunt on
earth.
Although terrestrial wildlife have
over 100 million ha of land protected for them in southern
Africa, Namibia's seal population as a species, has
effectively been reduced to just 500 m by 800m.
Ignoring the United States import
ban on Cape fur seals in 1972, due to the cruelty involved
in Namibia's current sealing methods or that the world's
remaining sealing countries of Canada, Greenland, Norway
and Russia banned the practice in their own sealing
regulations in 1987, citing clubbing a nursing seal pup in
a breeding colony to be cruel. Namibia prides itself that
90% of its sealing quota is nursing seal pup based, with
regulations requiring sealers to beat less than one year
old seal pups to death, as the only sealing method, and may
not shoot them.
With the Fisheries Minister
Abraham Iyambo ignoring his own constitution which prevents
a cull of its wildlife, as reducing a wild seal population
is unconstitutional and who ignores his country's own
Animal Protection Act, which states beating an animal to
death is a criminal offence. Equally disregarding that he
has increased the seal cull quota, of over 800% from
9000 in 1990, to 85 000 seal pups. When in fact between
1994-2006, overfishing by the same Minister, saw the
largest seal die-off from starvation ever recorded over
several breeding seasons, effectively reducing Namibia's
seal population by half.
Ignoring Russia's President's
public statement, "that the seal clubbing is a bloody
business, that should have ended long ago", when he
announced the end of Russia's Seal Hunting policies or the
EU's recent vote of 550-49, in May 2009, for an all seal
species, all seal product import ban for all 27 countries
of the EU, which specifically listed Cape fur seal hunt in
Namibia, as the world's second largest.
Namibian Minister of Fisheries
Abraham Iyambo's reaction to the EU Seal Import Ban
thereafter was, "Namibia to Continue Culling Seals, Says EU
Decision ‘Emotional’", and went on to say, “The EU is not a
market of note for us,”.
As Cape fur seals, are listed as
an Appendix II endangered species in 1977, by the United
Nations - Convention In Trade of Endangered Species
(CITES), all exports/imports by the 173 countries, which
includes Namibia, which are signatory to the CITES
convention, are required to submits permits. These permits
of exports/imports can be tracked on CITES
database.
In 2000, Namibia doubled its seal
pup quota from 30 000 to 60 000, and yet sealers could
harvest only 35 000. In 2006, the Minister
increased the seal pup quota further by 30%, to 85
000 seal pups, and then acknowledging the seals
were suffering the largest mass die-off from starvation
every recorded in the world for any marine species,
effectively reducing the seal population by half. Namibian
sealers found only three buyers, and exported 13 550
skins to Greece, 15 177 to Norway and 17 813 Turkey. In
2007, Namibian sealers could only find buyers in just two
countries, Greece 10 056 and Turkey 15 028. Between
2006 and 2007, Namibian seal skin exports declined from 46
540 to 25 084. In 2008, Namibian sealers could only find
one buyer in one country, and exported 23 000 seal skins to
Hatem Yavuz in Turkey.
One has to question how the Minister of
Fisheries can claim sustainable utilization of the seals
and issue a sealing pup quota of 85 - 80 000. When the
sealers were only able to fill between 52 % - 31% of the
quota?
In June this year, just weeks
before Namibia's annual seal cull, starting on 1 July,
Namibian state owned newspaper NewEra released an article,
"Namibian Seal Products Feature in Turkey - by Desie
Heita", and claim Namibian sealers were doing a roaring
trade with Turkey and the Yavuz group.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA, the
organization leading the international campaign to end
Namibia's cruel baby seal pup slaughter, after having met
with Namibia's Prime Minister in 2007, managed to secure a
full 27-country EU seal import ban on all seal products
from Namibian sealers within just 2 years, and has now
been in email and telcomm communication with Namibia's last
Cape fur seal buyer, Hatem Yavuz of the Yavuz group. Hatem
Yavuz's hour long phone call from his Head Office in
Australia, tells a different story, as does his email
dated, 10 June 2009, reads, "I have already stopped the
purchase of Namibian seals which were supplied by Norway
and Canadian co since December 08, due to the economic
fallout we have in general stopped furs, ......... I
am not the one buying the raw skins". In his telcomm
communication, he confirmed that he last purchased 23 000
Namibian seal skins in December 2008, as this is all
the Namibian's sealers were able to harvest, and he was the
only buyer prepared to purchase Namibian fur seal skins. He
further confirmed Namibian sealers and government have been
pushing him to order seal skins for the 2009 season, but as
he still has some 20 000 skins left, he is not interested
in purchasing skins this year.
In further communication, it appears as
if the two sealing company's owners, are not too keen to
pursue further seal culling either, as the market is dead,
seal numbers are low and they both have other business
interests. Sealing is just a side-line business, and are
involved only because they have had sealing rights for a
long time.
With the recent EU seal import ban in
May 2009, due to the cruelty involved, one has to question
why Namibia does not announce an end to its sealing policy,
as South Africa did on the same endangered seal species in
1990.
Information received, its that Namibia
is hell bent on exterminating the seal population in
Namibian waters, with the belief, that commercial fisheries
will benefit from such extermination. Could somebody please
tell Namibia and its Minister of Fisheries, as I have
tried, that 90% of it's seal cull which is based on
clubbing nursing baby seals, who do not eat solids or fish,
but drink mother's milk at the time of culling, and who
vomit up white milk in shock, will have no benefit for
fisheries - as seal pups do not eat or catch
fish. Namibia's seal culling policy actually exempts
all "fish eating seals" as no market exists for their
coarse seal skins.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA\
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
On July 1, 2009 - Namibia, will become
the largest seal
hunt in the world with the slaughter of 91 000
endangered and protected baby Cape fur seals (Larger than
Canada, who this past year killed 60 000 seals, even though
the quota was 280 000 on a seal population 5-times larger).
90% of Namibia's sealing quota will involve the
clubbing to death of baby seals, all still suckling
mother's milk.
Seal Alert-SA, media release 7 June 2009
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA Releases
"Touching Seals" DVD to Save Cape Fur Seals in Southern
Africa
Dear Cape Fur Seal Supporters,
It has been some time since my last
update to you. I wish to thank you for all your support in
various campaigns, petitions and funding. In a way to thank
you, I have produced a DVD that details the life of the
Cape fur seal as a specie, along 3000km of coastline,
spanning two oceans and covers my rescue work and campaigns
over the past ten years.
Since my meeting with the Prime Minister
of Namibia to attempt to persuade him to stop the seal
culling in 2007, I have secured Namibia's two largest
incoming tourist countries, Netherlands and Germany to
introduce a ban on Cape fur seal product imports, and later
the whole of the EU. This resulted in not only Cape fur
seals, but all 30 species of seals, including the 15
species hunted worldwide involving over 15 million seals,
to be included in the EU Seal import ban. An achievement I
am most proud of. In addition, I have expanded my existing
private seal rescue facilities at Hout Bay harbour and this
past season rescued over 60 baby seals pups which required
the purchase of over 40 tons of fish to undertake their
year long rehabilitation.
Seal Alert-SA
Releases "Touching Seals" DVD to Save Cape Fur Seals in
Southern Africa
Pic on the DVD cover shows
Francois Hugo with just
25 of the more than 60 seal baby pups rescued
On
July 1, 2009 - Namibia, will become the largest seal
hunt in the world with the slaughter of 91 000
endangered and protected baby Cape fur seals (Larger than
Canada, who this past year killed 60 000 seals, even though
the quota was 280 000 on a seal population 5-times larger).
90% of Namibia's sealing quota will involve the
clubbing to death of baby seals, all still suckling
mother's milk.
A process, even stopped by
the world's remaining sealing countries of Canada,
Greenland, Norway and Russia in 1987, that found killing a
nursing baby seal to be cruel..
This is after the US banned
Cape fur seals product imports in 1972 due to it's cruelty
factor, and after being listed by the United Nations -
Convention in Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) as an
appendix II protected species in 1977, to which 173
countries are signatory to, including Namibia, and after
South Africa stopped all commercial culling on the same
species without any further population increases, adverse
ecological impacts or increased commercial fisheries
competition in 1990, and after several mass die-off's from
starvation of the seals have occurred between 1994 -
2006, and after Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA
sat down with the Prime Minister of Namibia in 2007 and 34
stakeholders two weeks later in Namibia, and after sealers
completely destroyed and exterminated Namibia's largest
seal colony at Cape Cross in 2007, which is also their
largest tourist attraction earning over N$4 million, and
after, Namibia's two largest incoming tourists countries,
the Netherlands and Germany, both introduced a ban on Cape
fur seal product imports, later that same year, and
finally, after the EU recently voted overwhelmingly 550 -
49 to introduce a ban on all seal products imports in May
2009.
The pup sealing quota, does
not take into effect the natural mortality of pups
(unnatural predation by Jackals and from starvation),
pegged by Namibia's own scientists at 44%, prior to the
start of the sealing season. Therefore the sealing
quota awarded to two sealing companies exceeds the number
of seal pups left alive on seal colonies. Each year,
Namibia exterminates the total pups born each year.
Namibian Minister of Fisheries,
Abraham Iyambo reply is, "Namibia to Continue Culling
Seals, Says EU Decision 'Emotional' " on the 13 May 2009.
Even though Namibia's own
constitution prevents it from commercially culling
wildlife, as by definition a seal cull, reduces a seal
population, and its Animal Protection Act, finds
beating an animal to death a criminal offence.
So what do you do with a country,
that is the least populated country on earth, ignores
world opinion, scientific or governmental, who exports all
it's seal products, as Namibian's have no use for fur skins
in a desert, which only creates employment for 120
part-time seal clubbers, which is guilty of
cruelly carrying out the largest slaughter of baby fur
seals along the oldest desert in the world, becoming
in the process, the largest slaughter of wildlife on
the African continent. Whilst it ignores the plea's of it's
biggest employer, the De Beers Diamond corporation to
cease seal culling ?
A country, that has already
through its seal culling policy, caused the extermination
and permanent extinction of 98% of seals original habitat
on offshore islands and is hell bent on driving the entire
species 2000km north into extinction, by forcing fur
seals to live in climates equal to the tropical Seychelles,
in now very warm Angola.
A country who intentionally bans
seals from their natural habitat islands, to force them to
breed on the mainland in order to club and cull them to
death.
You produce a DVD that graphically
shows what mankind has and is doing to a seal species found
nowhere else on earth, and the only seal species breeding
on the African continent, and you show what the life of a
Cape fur seal is, colony by seal colony, along 3000 km of
coastline spanning two oceans, whilst one individual,
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA, tries equally to save and
rescue the species, and at the same time the lives of over
5000 seals over the past 10 years, to prevent this
ecological species extermination.
Namibia claims its motive for
culling seals is based on the consumption of fish seals
eat, yet 90% of the sealing quota, is baby seal pup based,
where the regulations require sealers to only club to death
< 1 year old seal pups. These baby seals, all of which
are too young to consume solids or eat fish, and who all
vomit up mother's milk in shock when clubbed. In fact, all
the fish eating seals of all other age groups are exempt
from the clubbing. It is therefore illogical Namibia's
claim it is culling seals to protect fish stocks,
particularly as Namibia exports 99% of its commercial
fisheries to Europe.
The aim of the DVD is to educate
and inform each potential tourist considering visiting
Namibia, South Africa or Angola, to make an informed
decision before visiting, about it's protection of its
natural living wildlife, and in particular Cape fur seals.
Recently I appeared alongside US
president Barrack Obama in a leading Japanese environmental
magazine, in which it was claimed, Francois Hugo and Obama
to be amongst the world's emerging leading top 20
environmentalists making changes, among the list is Kevin
Rudd Minister Environment of Australia.
You can order the DVD directly from
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA via email
sasealion@wam.co.za, the first edition is in
English, and later editions will be translated
into French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German,
Chinese and Japanese. The retail price which includes
postage will be SA Rand 200 or USD $ 25 or Euro 20. Each
DVD is separately numbered and personally signed
autographed by my wife, Nelda and
myself.
Seal Alert-SA Postal Address. SEAL ALERT-SA,
BOX 221, POSTNET, HOUT BAY, 7872, SOUTH AFRICA
HEREWITH IS FURTHER DETAILS FOR BANK TRANSFERS:
ZAR is South AfricanRand
More information to be able to send the money via internet:
SEAL ALERT-SA ACC : 911 2201 321
BRANCH CODE : 632 005 (for Europe use this number as the
IBAN or BIC code - 632 005)
SWIFT CODE : ABSAZAJJ
BANK : ABSA
SA NAT.CLEARING CODE
BIC: (SWIFT-CODE) ABSAZAJJ
Bank name : ABSA
Address : DELPHI ARCH OFFICE PARK, RAATS DRIVE, TABLE VIEW
City/code : TABLE VIEW, 7439
Country : South Africa
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
* . * . *
Seal Alert-SA Press Release 5 May 2009
FINAL EU VOTE
- MEPs APPROVE SEAL IMPORT BAN
Francois
Hugo of Seal Alert-SA with a rescued Cape fur seal pup
Today European Parliament released the following
press release :
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/063-54953-124-05-19-911-20090504IPR54952-04-05-2009-2009-true/default_en.htm.
On Monday 550 MEPs in the EU, voted in favour of a total
import ban on commercial hunting/clubbing of seals of all
age groups worldwide and their products. With just 49 MEPs
voting against.
The ban will come into
effect in 2010.
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA writes, "I am particular pleased, no overjoyed at
the EU MEPs decision, for although Namibia's cull of baby
seals is the only country in world doing so, the EU ban in
1983 of baby harp and hooded seals, which lead to South
Africa stopping its seal cull in 1990, did unfortunately,
not include a ban on the more endangered CITES Appendix II
listed Cape fur seals. The latest legislative process to
seek a new ban was initiated by UK MEP Carole Lucas in
2006. Her written declaration for a ban on harp and hooded
seal species only, sadly once again did not include
Cape fur seals or any of the other 13 species of seal
commercially hunted involving over 15 million seals".
Today, all that has changed,
Cape fur seals and 30 species of seal, with 15 species
hunted, involving over 18 million seals worldwide are now
officially banned from import in the 27-country EU, or
their products.
In effect, I am please
to say, I have single-handedly protected and saved 30
species of seals (all seals) involving over 18 million
seals from cruel commercial seal hunts or clubbing.
My only hope, is that the
Namibian Prime Minister Nahas Angula, accepts the cruelty
of his country's sealing industry, and announces publicly
an end it, and replaces it with the far more lucrative
eco-tourism seal-watching. Where already marine scientists
have confirmed 400 000 tourists view Cape fur seals, a
world leader, and with whom over USD $5 million is
generated in ticket sales. 10-times the income generated by
Namibia's sealing industry.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
- - - - - - -
Seal
Alert-SA, Media Release 2 March 2009
Russia Bans
Seal Killing Completely on 1 March,
and EU Parliament Votes
in Favour of a Full Seal Import
Ban
Francois Hugo of Seal
Alert-SA with his over 70 baby rescued Cape fur seals
Russia has announced that it will completely ban all seal
killing by 1 March 2009. Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin called seal hunting a "bloody industry".
"It is
clear that it should have been banned a long time
ago," said Putin at a meeting with
the Minister of Natural Resources. ( en.rian.ru/russia/20090227/120337294.html).
This now makes,
Namibia and it's annual clubbing to death of 85 000 nursing
baby Cape fur seals (the second largest seal killing
hunt in the world) and the shooting of 6000 bulls for
their genitals, as the only baby seal clubbing
country, left on earth.
How the
Fisheries Minister of Namibia, Abraham Iyambo has defied
all Animal Protection Laws, dating back to 1962, which
clearly state to beat an animal to death is cruel and
criminal, and who then de-criminalized these horrific and
cruel acts by introducing regulations to commercialize its
seal killing industry, forcing its sealers, which impose
that they must "club a baby seal under 1 year of age to
death", is beyond all logic ?
Why the Namibian
criminal prosecution authorities or the Attorney-General's
office of Namibia has not stepped in, and has turned a
blind eye to these criminal commercial activities since
independence, equally is beyond understanding ?
It now remains to be
seen whether Namibia's Prime Minister Nahas Angula, with
whom I had a meeting with in 2007, to stop the clubbing of
seals, will come out as strongly as Russia's Prime Minister
and stop this bloody seal killing industry, before it
starts again on 1 July.
On 2 March 2009, the
EU Parliament voted 25-7, for a full Seal Import Ban of all
Seal Products(www.theparliament.com/latestnews/news-article/newsarticle/eu-parliament-backs-seal-products-ban/).
In doing so, they also rejected a proposal of a labeling
system.
Namibia's recent
announcement on 5 February 2009, that the government
of Namibia has taken a bold step to conserve some of the
southern Africa nation’s unique natural heritage by
establishing the Sperrgebiet National Park. At 2.6 million
hectares (more than 10,000 square miles), the new protected
area is the largest single protected region proclaimed in
Africa in two decades. While this may be all good and true,
other attractions in this park are the 80 terrestrial and
38 marine mammal species, including the 600 000 Cape
fur seals, representing 50 percent of the world’s seal
population. One has to question, how culling and clubbing
to death of 91 000 protected and endangered Cape fur seals
in this park, fits into this conservation equation ?
(www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=2277).
With Namibia as the last
baby seal clubbing country on earth, and the second largest
seal hunt - the eyes of the world, particularly the EU are
fixed firmly on Namibian government, as the least populated
country on earth, it may try to hide away, and hope
this will all go away, but its policies of protecting
endangered wildlife is firmly on the agenda in the EU.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
27-21-790 8774
