“So long and thanks for all the fish”
When Douglas Adams penned this title to his fourth book in the “Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy” series, he was talking about Dolphins leaving Earth to save themselves. In a similar move it appears the seals have voted with their flippers and decided to leave Cape Cross nature reserve in Namibia.
Cape Cross, once the biggest Cape fur seal colony of all, has recently been completely abandoned. Management at Cape Cross lodge informed Sunday Independent journalist Eleanor Momberg, that tourists complaints, about the
News
Monday, 3 September 2007
abandoned colony, has resulted in them now recommending them not to visit the area for seal watching. Many believe the seals have had enough of the relentless brutal slaughter and will never return. With no seals for the tourists to admire, the people of Cape Cross and surrounds are now going to suffer a severe financial blow. It is somehow ironic that the seals forced tourists to abandon the area themselves. When ecoeye covered what campaigning groups, Seal Alert and Sea Shepherd, have been warning the government about, the message was clear. Once tourists learn what is happening, with the early morning slaying of the young seals, they would boycott Namibia and poor communities would suffer the most. Perhaps the government will now realise the dire consequences of continuing the barbaric practice of seal clubbing to both the local community and to the image and marketability of the country as a whole.
Cape Cross was once a significant point of interest for tourists and according to Seal Alert’s Francois Hugo, more people come to see seals than the big 5 in South Africa. So the effect of no tourists visiting is going to be quite significant to the Cape Cross community and to the country, as this fledgling industry had the potential to grow exponentially. The Namibian government use a number of arguments to justify killing, from loss of revenue the local people would suffer if seal killing were to be halted, to the need for controlling the apparent massively expanding populations. Seal groups, protesting the slaughter, have repeatedly argued with the government that killing seals cannot co-exist with a seal watching and tourist industry. They also say, what they see on the ground does not match the governments healthy population claims. Ignoring all pleas the government has to now contend with the fact that their biggest colony no longer exists. How will they, and the surrounding community, respond is anyone’s guess. All that is certain is that the once thriving colony is now deserted and bone strewn.
This year the Namibian government has set the seals killing quotas at 80,000 pups and 6,000 bulls. In many peoples opinion these numbers are simply unrealistic as there aren’t this number of seals to kill. Never has the quota ever been reached, according to Professor Butterworth of UCT. One could argue they may as well make it 800,000. Essentially, concessions holders kill every seal pup they can find. In a meeting with Rt. Hon. Nahas Angula, the Namibian Prime Minister, and protesting seal groups in July this year, the PM continually brought the conversation back to quoting the Namibian constitution stating that "Namibia has the right to sustainably use it's resources". By his own definition, and these latest developments, has the government forfeited its rights?
The Namibian government claims decisions are made, based on solid scientific input, but when you talk to the people involved you get a totally different story. Steve Kirkman, a marine biologist who worked for the Namibian Fisheries Ministry from 2000 to 2002, now lives in South Africa. He was responsible for recommending quota allocations and was tasked with calculating the number of seals that could be sustainably harvested. He commented, "The way it is done there is that the Minister basically says before hand that he won’t accept less than so much and when we came along and advised to do half of that, it wasn’t taken too well I guess." Steve was subsequently fired and ordered to leave the country. How can one believe any figures the government puts on the table? Is this a scientific approach to sustainable fisheries management? It’s our opinion it’s more a convenient manipulation of science to rubber-stamp the short-sighted abuse of seals.
There may be a hidden price to pay for driving off the seals, as scientific evidence, outlined by Professor Butterworth, suggests an unexpected positive benefit of seals to fish stocks. The seals eat predatory hake which allows the development of the younger hake and thus the seals presence increases hake populations for potential human consumption . The communities in Cape Cross and surrounds rely heavily on fishing for their lively hoods but the consistent mismanagement of fishing resources, as is the case worldwide almost without exception, with increasing quotas and fleets of foreign fishing trawlers moving in, has lead to a collapse of fish stocks. Currently, these are estimated to be only 10%, on average, of their 1950 levels.
Cape Cross was once a significant point of interest for tourists and according to Seal Alert’s Francois Hugo, more people come to see seals than the big 5 in South Africa. So the effect of no tourists visiting is going to be quite significant to the Cape Cross community and to the country, as this fledgling industry had the potential to grow exponentially. The Namibian government use a number of arguments to justify killing, from loss of revenue the local people would suffer if seal killing were to be halted, to the need for controlling the apparent massively expanding populations. Seal groups, protesting the slaughter, have repeatedly argued with the government that killing seals cannot co-exist with a seal watching and tourist industry. They also say, what they see on the ground does not match the governments healthy population claims. Ignoring all pleas the government has to now contend with the fact that their biggest colony no longer exists. How will they, and the surrounding community, respond is anyone’s guess. All that is certain is that the once thriving colony is now deserted and bone strewn.
This year the Namibian government has set the seals killing quotas at 80,000 pups and 6,000 bulls. In many peoples opinion these numbers are simply unrealistic as there aren’t this number of seals to kill. Never has the quota ever been reached, according to Professor Butterworth of UCT. One could argue they may as well make it 800,000. Essentially, concessions holders kill every seal pup they can find. In a meeting with Rt. Hon. Nahas Angula, the Namibian Prime Minister, and protesting seal groups in July this year, the PM continually brought the conversation back to quoting the Namibian constitution stating that "Namibia has the right to sustainably use it's resources". By his own definition, and these latest developments, has the government forfeited its rights?
The Namibian government claims decisions are made, based on solid scientific input, but when you talk to the people involved you get a totally different story. Steve Kirkman, a marine biologist who worked for the Namibian Fisheries Ministry from 2000 to 2002, now lives in South Africa. He was responsible for recommending quota allocations and was tasked with calculating the number of seals that could be sustainably harvested. He commented, "The way it is done there is that the Minister basically says before hand that he won’t accept less than so much and when we came along and advised to do half of that, it wasn’t taken too well I guess." Steve was subsequently fired and ordered to leave the country. How can one believe any figures the government puts on the table? Is this a scientific approach to sustainable fisheries management? It’s our opinion it’s more a convenient manipulation of science to rubber-stamp the short-sighted abuse of seals.There may be a hidden price to pay for driving off the seals, as scientific evidence, outlined by Professor Butterworth, suggests an unexpected positive benefit of seals to fish stocks. The seals eat predatory hake which allows the development of the younger hake and thus the seals presence increases hake populations for potential human consumption . The communities in Cape Cross and surrounds rely heavily on fishing for their lively hoods but the consistent mismanagement of fishing resources, as is the case worldwide almost without exception, with increasing quotas and fleets of foreign fishing trawlers moving in, has lead to a collapse of fish stocks. Currently, these are estimated to be only 10%, on average, of their 1950 levels.
The seal exodus was suggested in the film "Nowhere to call home", which was produced by Bart Smithers, of ecoeye, and shown on SABC's 50/50 in October 2006. When referring to the clubbing at Cape Cross, the presenter states, "Ultimately the seals will decide their best survival strategy, just like they learnt that jumping on a boat, or performing a special trick will be rewarded, and that gannets are an easy target. If the harvesting pressure, which is localised, gets too much for their successful continued survival, they will move away."
Sadly, yet again, the warnings are ignored. Perhaps only now when it directly affects everyone’s pockets, and more importantly a healthy ecosystem, will humility prevail and the government focus its attention on preserving this precious animal for future generations.
Sadly, yet again, the warnings are ignored. Perhaps only now when it directly affects everyone’s pockets, and more importantly a healthy ecosystem, will humility prevail and the government focus its attention on preserving this precious animal for future generations.
Andy Le May, Bart Smithers