Canada plans protection for bears

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1996:

“The Ontario government intends to prohibit the commercial
sale of black bear parts, regardless of their origin, and limit each hunter
to one license for the animals each year,” the Toronto Globe and Mail
reported on April 4, two days after the Calgary Herald reported that,
“The Alberta government is considering a ban on recreational hunting of
grizzly bears because they are considered to be an ‘at risk’ species.”
Continued the Herald, “The proposal to outlaw grizzly hunting
could also be extended to wolverine trapping,” a species extirpated by
trapping from Hudson’s Bay east––not so much for pelts as because trappers
resent the wolverine habit of raiding traplines. “The hunt will proceed
this spring. I wouldn’t bet it will be there next spring,” the Herald
quoted provincial wildlife biologist John Gunson.
“We still have to deal with the spring bear hunt, the use of
dogs, and the use of baits, but we’re off to a good start,” said Barry Kent
MacKay, a director of both the Animal Alliance of Canada and Zoocheck
Canada, and program director for the Animal Protection Institute.

Wildlife serial-killing

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1996:

The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has proposed
opening the Cape May National
Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey to
migratory bird hunting. Targeted
would be rails, gallinules, woodcock,
common snipe, ducks, geese,
coots, and mergansers. The rationale,
from the official impact statement:
“The demand for additional
public hunting areas increases as
more and more land is developed.
Providing the hunting public with
areas in which to hunt helps assure a
safe and quality hunting experience.”

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Ghosties, goblins, and bumping off whales in the night

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1996:

ABERDEEN, Scotland– – The
June 24-28 annual meeting of the
International Whaling Commission might
appropriately open with the ancient Scots
prayer, “God keep us from ghosties and goblins
and things that go ‘bump’ in the night.”
Resurrecting the ghost of whaling
from longboats last done more than 70 years
ago, the Makah tribe of the outermost tip of
the Olympic peninsula in Washington will bid
to claim a subsistance quota on grey whales
and become the first legal whalers along the
Pacific coast of the U.S. mainland since the
whaling station at Point Richmond,
California closed more than 20 years ago.
The Makah will be supported, for reasons
pertaining to political correctness, by Greenpeace
and the U.S. government––and Japan,
whose whaling industry has cultivated a close
relationship with Makah minister of fisheries
Daniel Green.

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International wildlife news

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Africa
Rangers at Garamba
National Park in Zaire on March
28 reported the poaching kill of a
10-year-old pregnant female northern
white rhino, one of under 30 in
existence and the second to be
poached in 12 days. “This is a tragic
loss,” said World Wildlife Fund
director-general Claude Martin from
Geneva. As of February 14, when
WWF announced the vulnerability
of the rhinos to media, no endangered
animals of any kind had been
poached at Garamba since 1984,
despite heavy poaching of elephants
and hooved stock, blamed on
Sudanese rebels and refugees,
whose camps flank the park.

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Salmon

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Canadian fisheries minister Fred Mifflin
on March 30 declared that the government would cut
the British Columbia salmon fishing fleet of 4,400
vessels in half over the next three years, via license
buy-backs. Fishing industry representatives said the
plan wouldn’t do much to help depleted salmon
recover, however, because 75% of the catch is taken
by the 20% of the fleet most likely to stay active.
Also to protect salmon, the Canadian
Department of Fisheries and Oceans the same day
announced the closure for this year of the commercial
sockeye fishery on the mouth of the Fraser
River, and said native and recreational fishing might
be closed there as well. This year’s Fraser River
salmon run is expected to be the lowest on record.

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U.S., Peru split on dolphins

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.––The House Resources Subcommittee on
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans on April 18 approved HR 2823, a bill by
Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland) to implement the 1995
Declaration of Panama. Endorsed by the Clinton administration, Greenpeace,
the World Wildlife Fund, and the Center for Marine Conservation, HR 2823
and a Senate companion bill, S 1420, change the definition of “dolphinsafe”
to allow the resumed import of tuna netted “on dolphin,” if the number
of “observed” dolphin deaths is less than 5,000 for the fleet for the year.
Proponents of the bill argue that netting “on dolphin” is less harmful
to sea turtles, sharks, and other endangered marine species. Opponents
disagree, including the Humane Society of the U.S., the Sierra Club, and
most other animal and habitat protection groups. “HR 2823 is deadly to dolphins,”

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Bill Clinton kisses up to hunters

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C. – –
Fending off “vicious rumors that the
president is anti-hunting,” as one
White House official put it, Bill
Clinton on March 25 issued an executive
order recognizing hunters and
fishers as “first partners” in managing
the U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.
“Compatible hunting, fishing,
wildlife observation and photography,
and environmental education
and interpretation are especially recognized
in this Executive Order,”
Clinton said.

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I was a fish killer by Steve Hindi

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

I first fished at age five, with my
brother Greg, who is one year younger.
Each of us caught a perch out of a lake in St.
Paul, Minnesota. Fascinated, we watched
the two perch swim around in a small bucket
until first one and then the other died. I don’t
remember what happened to their bodies, but
I know they were not large enough to eat.
Perch are plentiful, and easy to
hook, and are therefore considered to be a
good species for practice fishing.
Many members from both sides of
my family were fishers, as well as hunters,
trappers, and ranchers. A couple of dead
perch didn’t rate much concern. Like most
children, we learned what we were taught,
setting aside whatever qualms we may have
felt. Our mother raised us to care for cats and
dogs, and we regularly took in strays,
despite housing project rules which forbade
it. However, we were told that fish had no
feelings, and we killed them with abandon.

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Overkill in overdrive: Canada halts, then resumes seal massacre

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND––
The good news was that on April
12, a month early, the Canadian Department
of Fisheries and Oceans halted the bloodiest
seal massacre since 1983, claiming––
though few believed it––that the quota of a
quarter million harp seals had been filled.
The bad news was that on April 16
the DFO told the sealers that it had overcounted,
and to go kill another 60,000.
At that, Canadian Sealers Association
executive director Tina Fagan said her
members might ask for an additional quota of
37,000. Newfoundland fisheries minister
John Efford said the additional quota ought to
be 150,000.

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