Confusion over Icelandic posture on whaling

March 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

REYKJAVIK, Iceland–Leaving office on January 27, 2009
after the collapse of the coalition government in which he was
fisheries minister, Einar Gudfinnsson as his last official act in
office authorized Icelandic whalers to kill up to 150 fin whales and
150 minke whales per year.
Fin whales are internationally recognized as an endangered
species. Icelandic whalers had killed seven since 2006.
Gudfinnasson’s action was seen as a gesture of defiance
toward the European Union, which “would be likely to demand an end
to whaling as a condition of membership,” said BBC News environment
correspondent Richard Black. Much of the Icelandic fishing industry
opposes joining the EU, in resistance to the EU’s Common Fisheries
Policy.

Atlantic Canada seal hunt starts slowly

March 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:
HALIFAX–The 2009 Atlantic Canadian seal hunt opened quietly
on Hays Island off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on February 4, with
only one sealing vessel sailing. The much larger Gulf of St.
Lawrence and Labrador Front phases of the hunt were expected to start
several weeks later
The most prominent protester appeared to be Atlantic Canadian
Anti-Sealing Coalition spokesperson Bridget Curran. The Humane
Society of the U.S. and International Fund for Animal Welfare usually
make appearances at the start of the Gulf of St. Lawrence hunt. The
Sea Shepherd Conserv-ation Society ship Farley Mowat, seized by the
Canadian government after confronting sealers near Cape Breton in
April 2008, remains in custody in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

“No whales killed” during 18-day Sea Shepherd pursuit of Japanese fleet

January 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
HOBART, Tasmanic, Australia– The
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fourth
consecutive winter campaign against Japanese
“research” whaling off Antarctica ran out of
fuel–but not before chasing the multi-vessel
whaling fleet for more than 2,000 miles through
the southernmost waters claimed by Australia and
New Zealand.
“No whales were taken,” said Sea
Shepherd founder Paul Watson, during the
pursuit, between December 20, 2008 and January
7, 2009.
The Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin
expected to dock for refueling in Hobart,
Tasmania, on January 15. Japanese officials
reportedly asked Australia to refuse landing
privileges to the Steve Irwin. As prime minister
Kevin Rudd was on vacation, acting prime
minister Julia Gillard ruled that, “The Steve
Irwin will be permitted to dockŠThere is
insufficient reason to prevent the Steve Irwin
from doing that.”

Ivory auctions net much less than African nations expected

December 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:
Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South
Africa between October 31 and November 7, 2008
collected $15.4 million from the sale of 108 tons
of stockpiled elephant tusks to Chinese and
Japanese traders, in the first ivory sales
approved by the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species since 1999.
But the sellers were reportedly disappointed in their take.
The average price paid for ivory was $152
U.S. per kilogram, less than a fifth the price
that some conservationists have claimed is paid
for poached ivory.

Studies refute pretexts for deer hunting

October 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2008:
(Actual publication date 11-5-08.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio; WASHINGTON , D.C. Two of the most common pretexts for deer hunting in late October 2008 took a hit from data published by researchers who had no intention of discouraging hunting.
At least 31 states rationalize efforts to promote deer hunting by claiming an urgent need to kill more deer, to prevent deer/car collisions and protect biodiversity, supposedly harmed by too many deer devouring plants.
The Highway Loss Data Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that the number of people killed in deer/car crashes rose from 101 in 1993 to 150 in 2000 and 227 in 2007.

Tigers scarce, poachers zero in on leopards, warns Indian conservationist

September 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:
NEW DELHI–Poachers who cannot find tigers to kill and
traffickers who have increasing difficulty moving tiger parts from
India to customers in Nepal and China are turning their notice to
leopards, warns Wildlife Protection Society of India program manager
Tito Joseph.
“Tiger parts fetch a price 20 times higher than those of
leopards,” Joseph told The Times of India on September 7, 2008 “but
their bones are considered on par.”
Compounding the situation, leopards are coming into
increasingly frequent and deadly conflict with humans–partly because
more desperately poor people are taking the risk of moving into their
habitat, partly too because more hungry leopards are coming into
villages to hunt livestock.

CITES okays China to buy ivory stocks

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
GENEVA–The Con-vention on International Trade in Endangered
Species on July 15, 2008 authorized China to buy 119 metric tons of
elephant ivory from the official government stores kept by Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
The stockpiles include ivory from elephants culled in the name
of population control or to protect crops and human life, as well as
ivory taken from poachers and illegal traffickers.
“Poaching has already reached a level surpassing that before the
1989 ban on the ivory trade,” said former Kenya Wildlife Service
director Michael Wamithi, now heading the Inter-national Fund for
Animal Welfare elephant program.
“A little legal ivory is sufficient to launder a lot of illicit
ivory,” warned the French conservation group Robin des Bois, “and
there is no doubt the price of ivory will skyrocket after China’s
entry into the ivory stock exchange,” in competition with Japan,
the only other approved bidder.

European Commission proposes a seal product import ban–maybe

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
BRUSSELS–The European Commission on July
23, 2008 adopted a proposal “for a regulation
banning the trading of seal products within,
into, and from the European Union,” said the EC
press agency, “to ensure that products derived
from seals killed and skinned in ways that cause
pain, distress and suffering are not found on
the European market. Trade in seal products
would only be allowed,” the EC announcement
continued, “where guarantees can be provided
that hunting techniques consistent with high
animal welfare standards were used and that the
animals did not suffer unnecessarily.”
The caveats may set animal advocates up
for another disappointment like the one that
followed a 1991 proposed European ban on imports
of leghold-trapped furs. Enforcement,
originally to start in 1995, was repeatedly
delayed by U.S., Canadian, and Russian
diplomatic pressure. In July 1997 the ban was
amended by the European Union General Affairs
Council into a mere agreement to establish
“humane” trapping standards.
“After certain leghold traps and even
drowning sets, illegal in many countries, were
included in the standard” that was eventually
adopted by the International Standards
Organization, “the whole exercise lost impetus
and credibility,” summarized World Animal Net
founder Wim de Kok.

BOOKS: Harpoon: Into the heart of whaling

June 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2008:

Harpoon:
Into the heart of whaling
by Andrew Darby
DaCapo Press (11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142), 2008.
320 pages, hardcover. $25.00.

Long covering whaling and whale-related politics for the
Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Darby enjoys a
reputation as the best there ever was on the whale beat, at least
since Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick. He does well on other
animal-related news beats too. More than 50 Darby articles have
informed ANIMAL PEOPLE coverage of marine mammals, Australian
wildlife, and issues involving Australian zoos. Darby’s work is
conspicuous for providing depth of background and inside
perspectives–and although Darby openly favors whales over
whale-killing, some sources within the Japanese whaling industry
appear to be willing to talk to him when they will not talk to anyone
else.

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