Conservation groups step up campaign against dolphin exports
- bombard Wildlife Division's email
By Nicosia Smith
Stabroek News
March 26, 2004
Over 20 non-governmental organisations from six countries have sent an email letter to local wildlife authorities with detailed legal, environmental and scientific reasons why Guyana should not export dolphins, according to information from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
In February, wildlife authorities told Stabroek Business that export permits were going to be issued for the dolphin trade and that the relevant documentation to support the trade was sent to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
Khalawan, director of the Guyana Wildlife Division and to whom the letter was addressed, told Stabroek Business last week, that as a result of the abundance of emails the division has received, their internet service has malfunctioned.
Khalawan then excused himself from the conversation saying he was in a meeting. He also declined to say when the division would be making a public statement about its plans to export dolphins.
Cathy Williamson, from the international organisation, WDCS in the United Kingdom, who signed the letter on behalf of the non-governmental groups stated, "We urge the Guyana Government to forbid captures of dolphins from its waters and refrain from issuing any permits for the capture and export of dolphins in Guyana."
Williamson, the captivity campaigner of WDCS explained: "We believe that insufficient information exists on the size and status of dolphin populations in Guyana to legitimise any non-detrimental finding that might be made. Accordingly, we believe that any export permit issued by Guyana for these dolphins would violate Article IV of CITES and render the trade illegal.
Lending their names to the letter were five US conservation groups; two each from Canada, Switzerland and South Africa; one each from Mexico and Denmark and eight international groups. The letter also contained information from six recently published sources.
Susan Sherwin, the USA campaign manager of the World Society for the Protec-tion of Animals (WSPA) who lent their name to the letter told Stabroek News, "that there are pressing scientific and legal questions which have yet to be answered."
Sherwin says until these issues are addressed in a thorough and public manner, any capture and trade in dolphins will create serious difficulties for Guyana.
WSPA had earlier asked CITES to clarify the status of a non-detrimental finding sent by Guyana, justifying plans to export dolphins.
In a March 5 statement on its website, CITES noted that "the secretariat is aware of the proposed trade in live bottlenose dolphins from Guyana and is reviewing supporting documentation provided by the government."
Local authorities have not yet issued any permits for the dolphin trade saying they are awaiting a response from CITES.
The letter by the organisations states that in the Conservation Action Plan for the World's Cetaceans (2002-2010), a IUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group note: "[The] removal of live cetaceans from the wild, for captive display and/or research, is equivalent to incidental or deliberate killing, as the animals brought into captivity (or killed during capture operations) are no longer available to help maintain their populations."
"When unmanaged and undertaken without a rigorous programme of research and monitoring, live-capture can become a serious threat to local cetacean populations," the specialist group noted.
A 1990 paper on dolphin by-catch off French Guiana notes: "It is likely that the Brazilian gill net fishing off French Guiana accounts for considerable dolphin mortality, which could be as much as a few thousand animals per year."
A preliminary review of Cetaceans and Gillnet Fisheries in Mexico, Central American and the Wider Caribbean(published 1994), which included data from nine of the 36 nations in the area, also revealed that "the lack of mortality records from the other countries reflects poor or non-existent documentation," according to researchers, cited in the letter.
"We are not aware of any recent published, peer-reviewed estimates of the size and status of dolphin populations in Guyana's waters. Indeed, we are unaware of any surveys having been undertaken by independent experts in recent years," the organisations explained.
Consultant Rueben Charles, a former chief fisheries officer conducted Guyana's non-detrimental finding study which showed that Guyana has below 10,000 dolphins but sufficient for commercial trade.
Steve Surujbally, president of the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) and a practising veterinarian was not thrilled about Guyana's plans. "I do not feel that any of our native fauna should be exported."
He is of the view that if researchers or tourists are interested in Guyana's wildlife they should visit the animals in their natural habitat and "if we still choose to export our fauna then we should start wildlife farming.
"Dolphins are brilliant animals and with that intelligence level, any capture... and subsequent holding in captivity is detrimental to the animal."
Moreover, he notes that Guyana cannot export dolphins if the reproductive physiology, the breeding seasons and the infant and adult mortality of the dolphins are not known.
Local wildlife exporters have also warned against the dolphin trade saying it could jeopardise their trade.