Show you care for the cape fur seals wear
this T-shirt
Petition and
Paypal
1.
On-line petition Stop-the
African-seal-hunt:
http://www.petitiononline.com/STASH06/petition.html
2.
On-line petition to Namibia:
www.harpseals.org/helpstop/protest_new/namibia_email.php
3.
On-line petition
Return the "robben" to their Robbenisland
Latest
info
CAPE FUR
SEALS ARE SHOT AT SEA
IN SOUTH AFRICA
- CALL FOR BAN ON GUNS -
ACTION REQUESTED CLICK
HERE
Seal Alert SA by Canadian Voice For Animals
English
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CAPE FUR SLAUGHTER CLICK ON THE
LINKS BELOW FOR POWER POINT SHOWS.
canadianvoiceforanimals baby Cape Fur Seal
Rescue pps
canadianvoiceforanimals
clubbing.pps
ANIMAL
FOUNDATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
PROTEST THE ANNUAL SLAUGHTER
IN NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA OF THE CAPE FUR
SEALS:
Canadian
Voice for Animals.
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org
For
SEAL ALERT – SOUTH AFRICA:
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASealAlert_Index.html
ACTION
AGAINST POISONING
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com
and
Cape fur seal info from the start in
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com
2006
Harpseals.org
www.harpseals.org/helpstop/protest/cape_fur_seal_alert.html
!!!
International Organization for Animal Protection OIPA,
Italy
www.oipa.org/
Seal Alert SA by OIPA
http://www.sealalertsa.net/
have a
look at this !
http://groups.myspace.com/capefurseals
ARGOS Animal Welfare Society
Thessaloniki, Greece
www.argosgr.org
CIDAG
Coalition,
Greece
www.atlantisnet.gr/cidag
Marchig
Animal Welfare Trust
www.marchigtrust.org/index.htm
Winsome
Constance Kindness Trust
www.thewinsomeconstancekindnesstrust.com
Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society
Sea Shepherd about the cape fur seals south
Africa
Essex
Animal Freedom
essex.a.f@btinternet.com
IFAW
www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=173602
Cape fur seal
supporters
Petition Robben Island for the robben-cape
fur seals
PLEASE WRITE FOR THE RETURN OF SEALS TO
ROBBEN (SEAL) ISLAND - CALL FOR ENQUIRY
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 11:47 AM
Subject: Whack, Whack, Whack
- Time for baby Cape fur Seals
Whack,
Whack, Whack
- Time, for baby Cape fur Seals -
Is "Seal Conservation" completely DEAD in southern
Africa?
On 1st July Namibia starts its annual "harvest" or
"cull" of 60 000 - still nursing on mother's milk protected
baby Cape Fur seals. It is the only marine protected
specie, and the only marine mammal, to still be
commercially killed in southern Africa. Excluded are great
white sharks, seabirds, turtles, dolphins, whales and other
seals. For the next 137 days, seven-month old baby seals
will be rounded up on two mainland seal colonies and driven
far beyond the jurisdiction of the act. One within a
diamond restricted area, the other in a nature reserve and
open to paying tourists in the summer, and where every day
a minimum of 430 seals will be clubbed to death to fill the
60 000 set government TAC quota. Since Namibia introduced
it's controversial doubling of their quota in 2000 -
sealers have not been fairing too well. In 1999 only 6% of
the sealing TAC was exported. In 2000 it was only 69%, and
after 42 000 seals were killed, each seal killed earned
less than US $3. Perhaps it was because of the repeated
mass die-off's the seals have been experiencing in 1988,
1994 and 2000. Where one third to one half of the
population has starved to death. 60% less pups were born in
the proceeding years and at least two consecutive years
where entire cohorts of pups failed. Even the lengthening
of the sealing season to July the 1st, where baby seals
will now be clubbed to death one month earlier, has not had
the desired effect in 2001, where sealers only harvested
34% of their 3 year rolling quota. To compound matters even
further, Namibia exported 112 000 skins in 2002, twice the
number of the government TAC quota, without a CITES export
permit, consent or approval. Prompting CITES to consider
whether or not Cape Fur seals should be selected for a
Review of Significant Trade. Even stranger, South Africa
who announced an end to its commercial sealing in 1990,
secretly continued to seal and export thousands of seal
skins in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2001, with CITES approval.
Since 2001, there has been complete silence on populations,
mass die-off's, harvest quotas or media exposure.
Namibia now has the distinction of having the second
biggest seal harvest in the world, but unlike other sealing
countries, as its CITES harvest exports show and as
confirmed by the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries, sealing is
conducted on only two mainland seal colonies who together
are responsible for 75% of the Namibian pup production.
Although it is claimed this is a sustainable utilization of
a resource under the constitution, the sealing harvest
records since independence show on average sealers only
reached between 6% and 80% of the government set TAC quota
- which means, every seal pup that was born in these
colonies, was killed and still they could not reach the TAC
set, even with an lengthened sealing season. In simple
terms, Namibia is killing every pup born in other words an
"animal genocide" of all baby seal pups.
Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA has been investigating the
"conservation" of seals, or the lack of it, since 1999. To
date all questions raised has remained either unanswered,
ignored or simple lied about. Perhaps someone out there can
take up the challenge and provide the answers to what is
happening to this species of seal, first discovered on the
Cape west coast on offshore islands over 5 million years
ago.
1 Is the Cape fur seals in South Africa and Namibia one
specie, that migrates between both countries, if so, why is
it not being managed as one species, with a common policy?
2 Has there been in existence for decades a policy to
disturb and ban seals from former historical breeding
island colonies (when seabird conservation or status was of
no concern during their intensive guano harvesting days),
and is this the reason why to date the largest, the 2nd,
3rd and 4th largest islands have remained extinct to seals,
if so, on what legal and scientific basis was this policy
initiated and approved initially?
3 Since becoming a protected specie in 1973, southern
Africa has commercially killed over 1.5 million baby seals,
still nursing, over and above those killed in commercial
fisheries or through natural predation or mortality, yet
has not the US Marine Mammal Act, the US appeal court and
US NOAA fisheries declared that the harvesting of nursing
baby seals to be inhumane, and have therefore banned all
imports into the US since 1977?
4 In 2000, Namibian fisheries admitted in their press
release referring to the 300 000 seals that had starved to
death, "The food dependent deaths of the seals is not
surprising if it is kept in mind that the females suckle
their pups on the colonies from birth to weaning. This is a
period of about 10 months". (The lengthened sealing season
since 2001, starts on July 1st, when pups are aged 7-months
or less)
5 Is it true to say that 75% of the seal population, all
the mainland populations of seals, fall outside the
jurisdiction of the Seal Protection Act, and therefore all
permits to harvest seals beyond the high-tide mark are
actually invalid?
6 Confusion has surrounded whether this clubbing of baby
seal pups is a harvest or a cull, to appease the fishing
industry's consistently declining commercial fish stocks,
if it has been a cull, what threat do nursing baby fur
seals pose to fish-stocks and how does this reduce the
foraging population of seals in the TAC fishing year?
7 Has commercial sealing on the mainland actually lead to
an unnatural increase in the seal population when compared
to non-sealing island populations since 1940, by creating
an unnatural high in female pup numbers and over protection
of adult cow seals, because no viable commercial market
exists for females, and sealing is not commercially
sustainable on historic island seal colonies as it causes
direct island extinction?
8 Is it true that adult females were not harvested or
culled, as such culling operation would not be
self-financing, if true, is the commercial harvest of seals
therefore to create employment or simply to self-finance
the cull?
9 Has banning seals from islands and the subsequent
harvesting of mostly male baby pups on the mainland's
(because they are larger), the sole cause of all perceived
seal population increases or proliferation issues?
10 Is it true, that these mammals with intense bonding with
their young pups, are so disrupted and disturbed through
each daily hunt, that the entire colony flees and do
females return to mourn the death of their young?
11 Is it true that since 1993, the total seal population
has been declining with mass die-off's reported in 1994 and
2000 and in other years not reported, and therefore should
all harvest or culls not have been immediately stopped?
12 Why are marine scientists refusing to declare publicly
that the Cape fur seal population is declining or report on
scientifically what the causes and effects of the mass
death of over 300 000 seals in 2000 has on the future of
the population, for in 1994 El Nino was blamed and in 1988
a weather abnormality?
13 Has South Africa been harvesting seals in 1992, 1996,
2000 and 2001 or later?
14 Has Namibia exceeded its government TAC quota by 26% in
the last ten years, what action has government or CITES
taken?
15 Is it true Namibia offered IFAW a "buy-out" of the
sealers, and did IFAW fail to report this offer to its
supporters and instead use "funded monies" to purchase land
for terrestrial conservation?
16 Did TRAFFIC and IUCN/SSC Wildlife Trade Programme
deliberately hold back vital declining seal population
scientific data in 2004 from CITES Animals Committee?
17 Is it true that wildlife organizations have failed in
their reporting or conservation work surrounding Cape Fur
Seals?
18 What happened to the 11-member scientific committee's
advice in the 1990 Commission on Sealing, that the Cape Fur
seal population would double to 4 million in 2000, and
treble to 6 million in 2010, when 23 former island colonies
still remain extinct.
19 Is it true Greenpeace, World Wide Fund for Nature and
International Fund for Animal Welfare supported United
Nations Environment Program in 1999 to evaluate protocols
for the proposals to cull Marine Mammals?
20 In 2000, Dr Abraham Iyambo, Minister of Fisheries
stated, "I hope that many Namibians will find ways to
increase the contribution of seals to food security and
health in Namibia. To assist in this direction I attach a
recipe for several seal dishes". Ignoring in the process
that in 1997, health inspectors from the department of the
Ministry of Health, impounded a large consignment, in which
a sealer was experimenting in turning seal meat into
sausages for human consumption. Mr Albert Brink of Sea Lion
Products, one of only two concession holders in Namibia,
"criticised the move by the health ministry to impound the
meat, saying it was unwarranted as no health certification
was necessary". One has only to read the report by Debbie
Mac Kenzie, "Seal Products may threaten Human Health" to
see how dangerous developments have come in Namibia.
http://www.seashepherd.org/editorials/editorial_060504_1.html
Numerous email and letter requests to the Ministers of
South Africa and Namibia, the Public Protector, IFAW, IUCN,
CITES, WWF-SA, De Beers and to UNESCO World Heritage
Committee - have all solicited no response and some cases a
confirmation, only to receive nothing further.
If this is the trend, "of no reply", then clearly, "Seal
Conservation" is a thing of the past - a failed idea or
invention. The question therefore why has the public not
been informed of this and importantly why is millions still
being donated by members of the public in support of such
causes? What is next, dolphins, whales, sharks, seabirds,
are we like commercial fish species witnessing the complete
collapse of our marine environment, as an accept
international policy?
A hundred years ago commercial exploitation of the Cape fur
seals on islands caused the near extinction of this five
million year old species, its recovery and displacement
onto the mainland has been touted as one of the greatest
marine conservation success stories this last century, but
once again as the century draws to a close, commercial
exploitation has once again threatened the survivability of
this specie, with conservation now turning into the biggest
mass death of repeated mass starvation, the world and this
species as witnessed. Instead of addressing this failed
conservation and "sustainable" exploitation invention, its
mismanagement is rather driven to concealment and animal
culls that make no ecological sense.
For the past five years, I have been rescuing and
rehabilitating days old baby Cape Fur seals in the wild,
and I can attest to the fact that only in their 8th month
from birth is there any "first sign" of a "self-foraging",
with full or partial self-surviving foraging only taking
place at the earliest in the 11th month from birth. It is
my observation with baby seals from various colonies over
the years, that during the Namibian Sealing Season, 1st
July to 15th November, over 90% of the pups will still be
nursing on their mother's milk at the time of taking.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
*.*.*.*
From Earle bingley eheb@telus.net
Date: June 16, 2006
Dear Friends:
Here is a copy of the press release just sent to all the
major newspapers, television stations, CNN, etc, and to
several Magazines.
Please forward it to any newspapers or television stations
in your area.
Thanks,
Earle
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
“Seal Alert - South Africa” OIPA Member League
(OIPA is an NGO Non Governmental Organization associated to
the
UN Department of Public Information)
Contacts:
Francois Hugo
27+ 21-790 8774
sasealion@wam.co.za
President,
Seal Alert – South Africa
www.sealalertsa.net
Earle Bingley
Canadian Voice for Animals
604-925-2830
eheb@telus.net
President,
Canadian Voice for Animals
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASealAlert_Index.html
Seal Alert
South Africa Seeks Ban on the
Annual Namibian Slaughter of the Cape Fur Seals
Seal Alert-SA and Global
Animal Conservation Groups Call On the South African
Governments to Ban the Senseless Slaughter and to
Strengthen Laws to Protect Diminishing Seal
Herds
NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA – June
13, 2006 – Seal Alert-South Africa has called on
the South African Namibian Government to prohibit the
annual slaughter of the Cape Fur Seals whose populations
have declined by over 50 percent over the past decade. Seal
Alert-SA is also asking that the Government enforce
existing Seal Protection laws and to introduce more
effective legislation to protect the species.
Since 1973, the Cape Fur Seal has been a protected species
under the South African Seabird and Seal Protection Act.
However, the Cape Fur seal population in Namibia is
threatened by the practice of clubbing baby seals and
shooting bulls for their penises, following that
country’s independence
Namibia, South Africa - June 15, 2006 -
Seal Alert-South Africa has called upon the world's largest
producer of gem diamonds - De Beers and the Namibian
Government to immediately put in place a moratorium to halt
the annual commercial cull of protected Cape Fur Seals on
their properties.
With a recent announcement by Fishing Minister Abraham
Iyambo to slash the fishing industry even more this year,
with area and seasonal closures and a five year moratorium
on new fishing rights, it makes no ecological sustainable
sense to keep culling Cape Fur seals, who are equally
effected by the declining fish crisis.
Seal Alert-SA, founder Francois Hugo,
said, “The South African Seals that have been
existence for five million years are slowly disappearing.
The preservation of the seals not only speaks to the issues
of animal cruelty and welfare of a protected animal, it
speaks to the protection of the environment for the
benefits of present and future generations. Each year, over
300,000 people visit the seals on offshore islands. If the
slaughter is not curbed soon, there will be no Fur Seals
period!”
Seal Alert-SA is calling for the South
African Government to liaise with authorities in Namibia
and Angola with a view to the possible implementation of a
unified policy of seal management.
Seal Alert-SA’s call for an end to
the clubbing in Namibia is supported by animal and wildlife
conservation groups, including Canadian Voice for Animals;
International Fund for Animal Welfare; Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society, Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, Action
Against Poisoning; Winsome Constance Kindness Trust,
Seals-Turkey, and the International Organization for Animal
Protection OIPA, Italy.
Earle Bingley, president of the Canadian
Voice for Animals whose organization also is involved in
efforts to protect Canadian Seals, said, “We hope
that the efforts of Seal Alert-SA along with the program to
support Canadian Harp Seals will generate an outpouring of
global support that will result in governments implementing
humane and environmentally conscious legislation to protect
these creatures who are suffering terribly at the expense
of commercial interests.”
About Seal Alert-SA
Seal Alert-SA was established in 1999, as a direct hands-on
organization to address the imbalances, cruelty and abuse
that has plagued this species for well over 600 years. Our
primary roles are Investigation, Rescue and in the wild
Rehabilitation, free of all forms of confinement. Our
ultimate goal is the re-establishment of the ecology path;
this species has been diverted away from. We seek an
effective and meaningful, protected natural balanced marine
environment, which is not based on unnatural animal
segregation or exclusion policies or over protection of one
species to the detriment of another.
More information about the Cape Fur Seals is available at
the following. Please note some of this information is
graphic. www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/Baby Cape
Fur_Seal_Rescue
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/clubbing
FOR ALL RECENT UPDATES ON SEAL ALERT
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASA_Meet_Our_Rescues
SEALS ARE SHOT AT SEA
IN SOUTH AFRICA
- CALL FOR BAN ON GUNS -
Earle Bingley of the Canadian Voice for Animals, has
kindly set-up a web-page, where you can go to see the
latest campaign newsletters, you can also view and write a
comment in the guest book at: www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org/SASA_Meet_Our_Rescues
"A WONDERFUL FEELING "GIVING A YEAR OF MY
LIFE"
For the
Seals, Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
SHOW YOU CARE FOR THE CAPE FUR SEALS, WEAR
THIS T-SHIRT
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Le Petit Chien"
Date: June 15, 2006 12:05:31 PM GMT+01:00
To: Subject: tourist info
Dear sir,
I just viewed the pics on how Namibië clubbes their seals
of of unoccupied little islands.
Seals are forced now to live on the mainland, leaving the
islands empty with no purpose what so ever?
It is a shame that this happens by yóur authority!
Hang on, ...it does not happen during tourist season...,
because you don't want people to know or see?
The pictures of the rounded up seals for clubbing to death
are so offending to people around the world,
that we cannot understand how primitively Namibiën
authorities do carry out there bloodbath on innocent
creatures.
I want strongly and firmly to ask you to think about
changing yóur way of approaching wild life as wróng as yóu
do now.
This will bennefit not only defenceless creatures, but also
the many humans who still have love for live.
Have you lost it? Love for live? Or do you only respect
your own...
Let us stop the curse on ourselves by prolonging certain
bloody actions taken !
Let us love and cherrish what we still have left from God's
creation, for now, and our children of the future.
Don't destroy our fellow inhabitants of our mutual shared
planet..
Respectfully,
Le Petit Chien
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Europe
perro10@xs4all.nl
Seal Alert - South
Africa is calling upon
the Gem Diamond Industry and Namibia to follow South Africa
and stop the Annual Slaughter of Cape Fur Seals
Namibia, South Africa - June 15, 2006 -
Seal Alert-South Africa has called upon the world's largest
producer of gem diamonds - De Beers and the Namibian
Government to immediately put in place a moratorium to halt
the annual commercial cull of protected Cape Fur Seals on
their properties. With a recent announcement by Fishing
Minister Abraham Iyambo to slash the fishing industry even
more this year, area and seasonal closures and a five year
moratorium slapped on new fishing rights, it makes no
ecological sustainable sense to keep culling Cape Fur
seals, who are equally effected by this declining fish
crisis.
Since 1988 the Cape Fur seals has endured
at least 4 separate incidents of mass starvation die-offs,
where between one third and one half of the seal population
died from starvation. In 2000, when the Namibian Fishing
Minister announced a doubling in the seal quota, after the
increased hunt ended, he announced that Namibia had
experienced its largest die-off to date of 300 000 seals.
In response to this the Minister lengthened the Seal
Harvest season to one month earlier and instituted a three
year rolling TAC to give stability to the sealing Industry
and facilitate that sealers could harvest their full
quotas.
Since the introduction of the new Namibian Marine
Resources Act of 2000, the Cape Fur Seals have
remained the only protected species to still be harvested
commercially by Namibia, whose list includes many species
of seabird, all other marine mammals, including the great
white sharks, all of which, except the Cape Fur Seals, may
not be harvested, disturbed or have their eggs removed.
In 1990 the South African Commission on
Sealing and the South African Government announced a
moratorium on its commercial sealing policy and was advised
that there is no biological basis to distinguish "Namibian"
and "South African" seals and urged Namibia to implement a
unified policy for seal management. The recent doubling of
the quota and increased sealing season has further bought
Namibia into further dispute with the US Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), the US Department of Commerce and
the US Fisheries NOAA policies. Since 1977 the US has
banned the imports of seal pelts from South Africa and
Namibia, as its regulations state that the taking of seal
pups still nursing is inhumane.
Although 60 000 pups and 7000 bulls are
harvested, making this the second biggest seal
harvest in the world. Namibia's sealing industry is
basically divided between two main concession holders, who
harvest equally Cape Fur Seals within the diamond
restricted area of the sperrgebiet and a nature reserve on
the Namibian mainland, creating part-time employment for
less than 160 workers. The fishing rights of these two
concession holders is due to expire at the end of 2007.
As the annual Seal Harvest is due to start on 1st
of July, Seal Alert-SA is calling upon the land
owners of Namibia and the Namibian/De Beers diamond mining
partnership (Namdeb) to seek a ban on all sealing on their
mainland properties.
Cape Fur Seals have existed on the offshore islands
along the coastline of southern Africa, for over 5 million
years, and it is only through sealing on the
islands in the past, which has caused this specie of seal
to flee to the mainland, where today all commercial sealing
is undertaken. Seal Alert-SA therefore urges Namibia to
follow the example of South Africa in 1990, and finally put
an end to the Seal Harvest on the Cape Fur seals in this
entire southern African region.
Francois.
Artist Ger van de Geer Holland gvandegeer @ hotmail.com
Mumkin = Gift to Francois Hugo - artist wishes to be
anonymous