Editorial:
The IWC Factor Facing Sustainable
Use Advocates
at COP12
COP
11, held last month in Gigiri, Kenya, like COP 9 six years earlier in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida in the United States, proved the principles of sustainable
use are durable enough to resist virtually any challenge posed by opponents
at venues staged in the strongholds of the non-use, preservationist NGOs.
However, among the lessons learned at COP 11 is that if sustainable use
is to prevail at COP 12, nothing must be taken for granted, especially
the perceptions of delegations regarding the credibility and legitimacy
of other international regulatory forums such as the International Whaling
Commission (IWC).
by Eugene LAPOINTE The combination of the inexperience of many delegations whose nations only recently inked the CITES accord and an effective campaign orchestrated by preservationist forces among delegations and NGOs to paint IWC as the international authority over cetaceans, conspired against science and common sense-based efforts to downlist minke and gray whale stocks. On paper, IWC does stake an important claim to the international regulation of greater whales and whaling to achieve a sustainable balance between whale stocks and environmentally sound whaling practices. In fact, IWC is an organization hijacked by preservationist oriented nations bent on diverting it from its chartered mandate to build a sustainable whaling industry toward the legally rogue position of effectively destroying the whaling industry. The IWC mandate to create a sustainable and environmentally sound whaling industry clearly has been breached by the “like-minded” nations who control the majority of votes at IWC and who are steadfast in their opposition to whaling in any form. Nevertheless, these controlling nations perpetuate the illusion of IWC primacy over all whale issues. This myth keeps the press, the public and organizations such as CITES in check and neutralizes any attempt, no matter how legitimate, to reinvigorate the moribund whaling industry. IWC has successfully delayed for the past decade ending its worldwide moratorium on whaling by claiming it needs more time to institute an effective industry monitoring system. This tactic has proved an effective diversion despite the fact that similar systems needed to monitor commercial fishing efforts for virtually any other “threatened” species take only months to construct. The importance of IWC relative to any whale species proposal brought
to CITES was no where more evident than at COP 11 in Gigiri. If any species
of cetacean is to be downlisted by CITES, IWC’s role must be considered.
The spectre of IWC will again color the thinking and influence the votes
of COP 12 delegations unless IWC is persuaded to reverse its current position
and adopt the sustainable use agenda, or, the capricious and obstructionist
behavior of IWC is exposed to the world. That is only one of the challenges
facing sustainable use forces between now and COP 12.¨
From the
file of
Just
like U.S. President Bill Clinton has a habit of saying, slugs, cockroaches
and snails “feel our pain” according to press reports of “research” performed
by an English animal rights group.
"We Always Knew They Were Related" In the latest round of cutting-edge animal rights claims, the above named life forms are said to react to electric shock much like “cats and dogs,” according to the British “Universities Federation for Animal Welfare.” Whether the reaction is evidence the scurrying and slithering creatures actually endure “pain” (associated with highly developed neurological systems) or simply respond via connective tissue spasms was not explained. One of the groups’ spokesmen, a Dr. Stephen Wickens said, “Perhaps people should think twice before reaching for the fly spray.” Posturing behind “medical” sounding groups in order to give credibility to carefully crafted statements designed to promote their segregationist ideology is nothing new for animal rights extremists. In the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) helped create the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) that routinely condemns omnivorism among humans in favor of the strict vegetarian “vegan” diet. PCRM lately is trying to convince parents that cows milk offers no benefit to humans. If their research proves meritorious, odds are that animal rights leaders
will not be at the vanguard of bug and slug lovers willing to snuggle up
to plague-carrying fleas, malaria and dengue fever-spreading mosquitoes
or kissing asthma-causing cockroaches anytime soon.¨
St. Vincent
& The Grenadines
Partly
in response to a renewed appreciation for the all but lost whaling tradition
of the Caribbean people of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and partly
due to the friendly rivalry between the fishermen of Barrouallie and neighboring
Bequia, Barrouallie fishermen harpooned and killed a brydes’ whale. The
fishermen were seeking smaller pilot whales known as “black fish” among
local people.
Fishermen take Brydes Whale During debate of delegates attending to 11th Conference of the Parties to CITES in April at the UNEP complex in Gigiri, Kenya, regarding down-listing the abundant gray and minke whale stocks, animal rights extremists/observers were appalled at a delegate from a Caribbean nation who spoke in defense of the down-listing proposals. One publicly denounced the delegate as “one of their slaves” speaking in defense of the Norwegian proposals. Now that they’ve landed the whale, the Barroullie fishermen announced
that they will seek the advice of Bequia’s aging whaler, Athneil Ollivierre,
on the best way to prepare Brydes whale meat.¨
Drought
& Hunger Threaten
At
a time when Kenya’s “rainy season” has produced very little moisture in
it’s northern regions, the combination of drought and hunger present a
critical challenge to the government’s effectiveness in meeting the needs
of its people and wildlife.
Kenya's Conservation Policies As the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) drew to a close last month, local news headlines proclaimed that 2.7 million Kenyans faced starvation and death due to the drought. Further news reports describe herds of zebra and elephants trampling farms and destroying crops in search of food and water, a dangerous situation that further complicates Kenya’s ability to feed its people. Local politicians claim poor water management policies diverting river
waters up stream are partially to blame. They also report the threat of
some to employ poisonous arrows against the marauding wildlife. To date,
schools in the area have been closed for three months due to the danger
presented by the ever present wildlife.¨
U.S. "Backdoors"
its Aussie Pals
Actions
taken by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) to include the
koala on the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) appear to have strained
relations between the U.S. and Australia.
Listing Koalas as Threatened Among the “like-minded” nations that enjoy collaborating on and marshalling votes for “non-use” protectionist policies at international regulatory forums such as CITES and the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the United States and Australia are virtually indistinguishable. The U.S. move to list the koala as “threatened” under its ESA prompted Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill to call the move “inappropriate and unnecessary”. The US action is seen as snub of Australia’s domestic conservation efforts. Estimates of koala populations range from 40,000 to 400,000 throughout Australia. Loss of Eucalyptus habitat is seen as responsible for dips in some local stocks. One observer commented that the U.S. habit of listing species not native
to its environment brings with it no obligation to help fund conservation
projects in range nations. USF&WS Director Jamie Rappaport Clark dismissed
Minister Hill’s criticism by describing the Service’s listing of foreign
species as a way to “raise public awareness” of the plight of the species
in question and the need for “conservation measures.” (Translation:
listing a species as threatened or endangered produces free and immediate
press attention. Attempting a more truthful approach, namely creating public
education campaigns, costs money).¨
Watson and
Sea Shepherd Set
Most
sea-faring vessels dock to off load cargo or take on supplies. Paul Watson
and his Sea Shepherd Society’s Ocean Warrior tied up at Florida’s Fort
Pierce Indian River Terminal to take on a full compliment of media attention.
After basking in the spotlight of an adoring Florida press Watson and his
ship will set off on its latest pilgrimage to assassinate the character
of yet another culture whose traditions are tied to the sea. Last year,
they harassed the Makah First People of Washington State. Now their sights
are set on the people of the Faeroe Islands and their annual harvest of
pilot whales.
Sights on Faeroe Islands Watson, 49, a co-founder of Greenpeace (an organization that booted him out because of “radical tendencies,” according to press reports) knows how to play the crowd to loosen purse strings. Flying the pirate’s skull and crossed bones pendant, the Ocean Warrior is the perfect celebrity attraction for an awestruck public and press alike. Some $250,000 donated dollars purchased the 190-foot former Norwegian research ship. Even the Ocean Warrior’s Florida docking fees were donated. Hollywood is currently casting the Watson story as a celluloid legend entitled, “Ocean Warrior.” With organizations like Greenpeace sporting its own self-styled green
flotilla of ships scurrying around the globe in search of new fundraising
ventures, Watson and friends are quick to condemn their competitors by
suggesting that Sea Shepherd is the more responsible and safer advocacy
group. He and his crew also play to the cameras by suggesting that their
lives are in danger as they brave confrontations with “eco-outlaws” who
in fact are simply island and coastal cultures who seek only to preserve
their ancient traditions of living from the bounty of the sea. Left
unchallenged by the public is the Watson claim that he and his colleagues
seek to end “illegal” activities such as whaling and sealing, when, in
fact, they, not the self-styled “enforcers,” are perfectly legal.¨
General Information
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