Category: MARINE PROTECTION

STATEMENT

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa is a community consisting of twenty-five South African wildlife and environmental conservation organisations that share common values, knowledge and objectives and who collectively comprise of a body of expertise from different sectors including but not limited to scientific, legal, welfare, rights, social justice, indigenous and public advocacy backgrounds.

Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries has issued a quota for the harvesting or culling of 80 000 seal pups and 6000 seal bulls. Mr Romeo Muyunda, spokesperson for the Namibian Environment Ministry said: “If you let the seal population grow, they will consume the commercial amounts of fish.”   

The Namibian Ministry has said that the harvesting of seals contributes to state revenue for national development programs. “Namibia’s seal population has increased to the point where they exceeded by far the carrying capacity of the environment therefore it is humane to curb the unrestricted seal population to a level where they can be sustained by the environment,” the government said in a statement.    

THE CAPE FUR SEAL  

The Cape Fur Seal is the most common seal species to be found in southern African waters. They occur from the Namibian west coast to East London on the east coast of South Africa. Their food consists mainly of shoaling pelagic fish such as pilchard, hake, Cape mackerel and snoek.  They also eat squid and crustaceans.  Cape Fur Seals are generalist feeders catching a wide variety of prey and are expected to feed on locally abundant prey species.  Cape fur seals forage within 220km of their colony. 

The uncontrolled exploitation of the Cape Fur Seal has previously led to a serious reduction in population numbers.  In 1983 they were protected in South Africa by an Act of the Cape Parliament and harvesting was controlled until 1990 when it was finally prohibited.  The protection of the seals and the halt to all sealing activities resulted in the recovery of the populations.  Sealing continues in Namibia where it is still permitted.  The effect of declining pelagic fish stocks on seal populations is a concern and the subject of several current research projects.            

Every year quotas are set for the commercial “harvesting” or culling of the Cape Fur Seal in Namibia.  Namibia is the only country in the Cape Fur Seal’s range in which commercial hunting is permitted.  Sealing occurs on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Wolf/Atlas Bay.  

THE SEAL HARVEST INDUSTRY 

Seals are killed for their fur which was traded globally however there is a marked reduction in demand due to the European market ban on seal imports.  

The Namibian harvesting season officially opened this year on the 1^st of July 2023. Namibian seal products are now mainly exported to Asian markets, after twenty-seven countries, including the European Union, the United States of America, Mexico, and South Africa have banned the import of all seal products.  

Of the Asian countries, the main market for Namibia’s seal cull has shifted to China.  Seal penis is a delicacy enjoyed in China and seal fat is used in beauty products.  According to a 2014 published report titled Grey Seal Management: Commercial use Opportunities and Challenges, Asian consumers, particularly athletes, consume a beverage called Dalishen Oral Liquid that is made from seal penis and testicles which they believe to be energizing and performance enhancing.  The report also suggests that seal meat could be processed as meatballs, sausages, pate and an infinite range of entrees targeting gourmet food and wine clubs. 

According to an article published in National Geographic in 2016, the oil derived from the blubber of the Cape Fur Seal advertised online as rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and allegedly is more readily absorbed by the human body given its mammalian source than fish oil.  Since 2005, Namibia exported 33 000 gallons of seal oil, a third of which was exported to China. 

Hatem Yavuz, the Namibian Honorary Consul to Turkey in 2012, was the main fur trader and buyer of seal skins from Namibia. According to an article published in 2014 he controlled 82 percent of the world’s seal fur trade. 

The Hatem Yavuz Group is based in Turkey and Australia, it represented, according to an article published in 2016, the largest trade of any mammal out of Africa.  An estimated 400 000 seal pelts from 2005 to 2015. According to Seven Network in Australia, the Yavuz Group controls 60 percent of the global market in seal products. 

In 2020 and 2021 the brutal slaughter of the Cape Fur Seal was put on hold because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

DON’T IGNORE THE SCIENTIFIC WARNINGS

In 2022 it was reported that hundreds of dead Cape Fur Seals had washed up on a stretch of Namibian coastline.  Hundreds upon hundreds of dead seals littered the beaches at Pelican Point, a 5km colony situated in Walvis Bay. Scientists from Stellenbosch University and Sea Search believed the cause of the death of these seals was linked to biotoxins namely domoic acid, produced by certain types of algae. The seals did not die of malnutrition, pollution, or exposure to noise according to the Namibian Dolphin Project. 

In 2020 thousands of Cape Fur Seals died in what was termed an abortion storm. An unusual mortality event among one of the world’s largest seal colonies caused great concern among scientists.  More than 5000 aborted Cape Fur Seal fetuses washed up on Central Namibia’s Pelican Point shore over a period of a few months.  

The spike in deaths was far higher than normally witnessed a phenomenon that worried local and international experts.  “If you are seeing die-offs of the most common apex predator in that ecosystem, we should not just be concerned about the seals, we should be concerned about the ecosystem and this event should be flashing big warning lights”.

Ecocide was defined as “Unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

Naude Dreyer, co-founder of Ocean Conservation Namibia Environmental Trust has expressed dismay over the lack of scientific research and decision-making based on demand.  He has emphasized the potential disruption to the ecosystem caused by the removal of seal bulls.  

Seals of Nam, a Namibian non-profit founded in 2010 with the goal of ending the country’s sealing industry is still hopeful that the ever-shrinking markets for seal products because of the global outcry against the mass killing of seals will eventually kill the industry. 

Seal Protection Namibia a non-governmental organization is still seeking a ban on seal hunting on the grounds it is illegal and immoral. 

Footage of the seals being clubbed to death has enraged animal rights campaigners for years. Terrified pups are rounded up, separated from their mothers, and violently beaten to death.  The clubbing begins every morning at 6h00 am; then, at 9h00 am, the beaches have already been cleaned before the tourists arrive.

In 2012 Captain Pete Bethune founder of Earthrace Conservation witnessed the cull, and said: “It remains the most harrowing thing I have ever witnessed.” 2015 The Seals of Nam partnered with social media experts from the Seal Army in a global outcry against the annual Namibian seal hunt.  

United Kingdom animal rights activist Ricky Gervais has joined other celebrities including George Lopez, Brigitte Bardot, Paul McCartney, Sara McLachlan, and Pamela Anderson who have condemned seal hunts in both Namibia and Canada.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has stated that the argument used by the Namibian government, protecting the fisheries because there is an issue of seal overpopulation, is invalid: “Studies have shown that overfishing is to blame”, with overfishing being the practice of fishing beyond what is allowed by permits, either at a rate that does not allow repopulation of species or by fishing untargeted species(bycatch) that are protected or threatened with extinction.

Studies indicate that overfishing is the primary cause of marine defaunation, while Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated fishing (IUU) is widely indicated by scientists as the cause of biodiversity loss, fish depletion and increased risks of shark and other endangered species extinction.   

The Director of the conservation organization called, International Fund for Animal Welfare in South Africa, Jason Bell,  commented on the proposed 2023 Namibian seal hunt “There is no justification for the killing, this is a purely political and economic issue, with very little concern for animal welfare.”

Seal Alert SA has expressed concerns about nursing seal pups being killed illegally.  Namibia is the only country in the world that allows the killing of nursing seal pups.  Seal Alert SA launched a bid in 2022 to interdict the seal cull.  The Ombudsman’s office said that Seal Alert SA did not have a mandate to make recommendations to the Namibian government.   

DESPITE THE MOUNTING OPPOSITION 

Despite a decline in demand for seal pups and the mounting opposition from conservationists, the Namibian government has decided to continue with the annual cull. 

WAPFSA Members hereby lend their unwavering support to all the organizations and individuals who have and continue to tirelessly defend the right to survival and the end to the abhorrent mass killing of the Cape Fur Seals in Namibia. 

WAPFSA was initiated in 2017 as a collaborative network representing the interests of wild animals as a vehicle with which to engage governments on animal protection, ethical and compassionate conservation, welfare, and biodiversity loss issues amongst others.

The Cape Fur Seal, as well as its direct predators’ ranges, include the oceans of South Africa.  We, therefore, agree that the protection of this mammal is of great importance to the continuance of a healthy aquatic ecosystem. We stand together on the shoulders of those before us, against the barbaric, unscientific and irresponsible, money-driven massacre of these mammals. 

Image Credit: Jean Tresfon

Jean Tresfon

         

The Members of WAPFSA, who signed the aforementioned submission to the Deputy Director -General Ms Zintle Langa of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment , belong to a community of diverse South African based organisations who share certain values, knowledge and objectives. WAPFSA members comprise of a body of expertise from different sectors including but not limited to scientific, environmental, legal, welfare, rights, social justice, indigenous and public advocacy backgrounds.

We are hopeful that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment find this submission helpful because according the the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 37.5 % of the 1200 species of sharks are currently threatened with extinction.

We are concerned that the Draft Shark Biodiversity Management Plan does not sufficiently and effectively address the reduction or the phasing out of the activities identified as major threats to the survival of shark species.

Image Credit: Jean Tresfon

©WAPFSA 2023. All Rights Reserved.

The Department of Environmental Affairs acknowledged receipt of the Appeal submitted by Members of WAPFSA on the 10th of May 2023.

WAPFSA registered as an Interested and Affected Party and has previously submitted preliminary comments to the Draft Scoping Report and the Members of WAPFSA have also submitted comments on the Environment and Social Impart Assessment.

©WAPFSA 2023. All Rights Reserved.

WAPFSA Members formally submitted comments on TEEPSA ESIA on the 7th December 2022.

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) submitted preliminary comments to the Draft Scoping Report (DSR) on the 4th of July 2022. This network consisting of thirty-one member organisations remains deeply concerned about the overall lack of urgency in addressing the shift towards renewable energy alternatives in South Africa.

We highlight the fact that the public response to the DSC (Annexure 4.2- Comments to the DSR) reflects an overwhelming outcry against the proposed project.

This negative response to the prosed project included well-represented feedback from local municipalities, provincial and national government authorities, and National Parks and Provincial Environmental authorities.

The public adverse response to the project included representation from ratepayers’ associations, community associations, councils and coalitions, scientists and researchers, representatives of local businesses and a very large number of concerned local residents.

Monday 4th July 2022

Following the release of the draft scoping report for a 30 day comment period on the 20th May 2022, SLR Consulting received several requests for an extension of the comment period on the Draft Scoping Report. Members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum submitted comments today.

TotalEnergies Exploration & Production South Africa (TEEPSA) and its Joint Venture partners invited consultation with interested and affected parties with regard to their proposal to undertake exploratory well drilling in Blocks 5/6/7 a 10 000 square kilometre area between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas.

COPY OF WAPFSA SUBMISSION:

TOTALENERGIES – ESIA FOR PROPOSED EXPLORATION DRILLINGS IN BLOCK 5/6/7

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) is an alliance of South African based organisations which share certain values, knowledge and objectives and which collectively comprise a body of expertise from scientific, conservation, legal, welfare, rights, social and climate justice, public advocacy sectors.

WAPFSA has registered as an I&AP.

COMMENTS

1. Meaningful Consultation

The undersigning members of WAPFSA believe that the communities living in highly populated areas of the South Western Coast must be meaningfully consulted about the proposed perspective operations which may impact upon their customary rights, which include customary fishing rights and livelihoods. The ocean is also integral to the Khoisan community’s cultural identity and customary system.

These communities should have been engaged with in person (they don`t read national newspapers and cannot be consulted via virtual meetings, nor would they have the opportunity to travel to Cape Town in order to  attend an in-person meeting, such as the meeting which was held in Cape Town on the 9^th of June, on a working day at 4h00 pm). 

The TEEPSA project has, in our view, been poorly advertised and the subsequent communication by SLR Consulting has in our experience been inadequate.  

Indigenous communities have strict rules about consultation that emphasise the importance of seeking consensus within the whole community. In the High Court Judgement: Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC vs MRE, Shell Explorations, Case No. 3491/2021 of 28 Dec 2021, it is noted: 

[26]       ‘Meaningful consultation entails providing communities with the necessary information on the proposed activities and affording them an opportunity to make informed representations’. 

WAPFSA members believe that TEEPSA-567 had a duty to meaningfully consult with the communities and individuals who could be impacted by this project.

2. Climate Change

“Ignoring climate change will yield ‘untold suffering,” a panel of 14,000 scientists warned in July 2021, calling for urgent global deal on climate policies^[1]. We have reasonable apprehension for irreparable harm on residents and the environment, resulting by both drilling and extracting operations.  

In  May 2022, a Report from the United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNODRR), warned of ‘Total Societal Collapse’ due to breaching of planetary boundaries. The Report is GAR 2022 and was endorsed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The report indicated that escalating synergies between disasters, economic vulnerabilities and ecosystem failures are escalating the risk of “global collapse”. For the very first time, the UN has openly flagged that existing global policies are accelerating toward the collapse of human civilisation. 

3. Predicted Impacts, Potential Harm and Risks

We are particularly concerned about all the predicted and unpredicted impacts and risks on people, their businesses and livelihoods and on wildlife and the environment. 

Drilling discharges and normal discharges such as deck drainage, machinery space drainage, sewage and galley wastes from the drilling unit and support vessels will all result in reduction of water quality in the area. Water quality will also be impacted at both local and regional levels due to accidental oil spills during the exploration drilling or in the event of a blow-out. These spills will have adverse effects on marine fauna and will also result in the oiling of coastal habitats and seabirds.

WAPFSA members are concerned about the migration of about 130.000 whales from East Africa trough the prospected areas, towards the Cape where they breed and nurse their young. Concerns also refer to the interference with many delicate species as Turtles, Cape Fur Seals, African Penguins and the Black Oystercatcher. 

These species all stand to be negatively affected by the proposed well drilling, irrespective of whether the project area avoids all MPAs. The fact that the project has even a 5,4% overlap with Critical Biodiversity Areas is a cause for concern as the physiological, mental and emotional effects of the drilling has been seen to cause negative impacts varying in severity, the most severe resulting in death of a variety of marine faunal species. 

In terms of the benthic habitats which might be affected, of the marine species, 98% live on or in the ocean floor^[2]. These benthos or bottom dwellers can live buried in the sand, shells or mud or attached to rocks. Sedentary benthic species and other relatively immobile species will experience smothering and biochemical effects, such as direct toxicity and bioaccumulation of the discharge of cuttings, drilling fluid and cement during the well drilling process. The benthic zone maintains a substantial part of the world’s biodiversity. These areas are extensively exploited and destroyed by human activities^[3].

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^[1] Ignoring climate change will yield ‘untold suffering,’ panel of 14,000 scientists warns | Live Science

^[2] Thurman, 1991

^[3] Investigating the effects of mobile bottom fishing on benthic biota: a systematic review protocol | Environmental Evidence | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

THE KILLING OF THE MINKE WHALE IN TAIJI, JAPAN

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA

18TH JANUARY 2021

ADDRESSED TO:

Taiji Fisheries Cooperative

Mr. Ryutaro Yatsu
Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs Ministry of Environment

Ms. Kaoru Oka
General Manager Environmental Policy Group

Ms. Kozue Hoshino
Global Environment Division, International Cooperation Bureau Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Satoru Lino
Deputy Director
Policy Planning Division Environmental Health Department and Department of the Environment

Mr. Teruhiko Shinada
Senior Coordinator
Global Environment Division International Cooperation Bureau Ministry of Foreign Affairs

South African Embassy in Japan

Dear Sirs,

The undersigned members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) were informed that the minke whale caught on the 25th December 2020 was mercilessly and brutally killed despite the many international appeals to release it.

WAPFSA consists of an alliance of diverse South African organisations and individuals that share certain values, knowledge and objectives that collectively comprise of a body of expertise from scientific, conservation, legal, animals rights, tourism, social justice and public advocacy sectors.

We, the undersigned, echo the sentiments of Ren Yabuki from the Life Investigation Agency: “Despite Japan being a whaling nation, it’s unjustifiable by anyone’s standards to make an animal suffer in such a cruel manner. The Taiji Fisheries Cooperative’s indifference towards animal’s suffering is shocking.”

BACKGROUND

Taiji is a town located in the Higashimuro District, in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. Taiji is the only town in Japan where drive hunting still takes place on a large scale. The government allows over 2000 cetaceans to be slaughtered or captured.

The Taiji dolphin hunt is based on driving dolphins and other small cetaceans into a small bay where they can be killed or captured for their meat and for sale to dolphinariums. Taiji also has a long connection to Japanese whaling. The annual dolphin hunt provides income for the local residents.

The Taiji hunt has attraction international criticism for many years, a documentary called The Cove in 2009 drew international attention to the hunt and dedicated environmental and animal rights groups have continued to raise objections. Anti-whaling groups such as Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace continue to insist that whaling is cruel and should be regulated. WAPFSA members are in support of all these organisations, we the undersigned to do not support the whaling industry nor do we support the Taiji hunting methods.

In mitigation to the negative international sentiment, the Japanese government has issued statements to say that whale and dolphin hunting are a traditional form of livelihood in Japan and that like other animals whales and dolphins are killed to supply the demand for meat. They maintain that the methods of killing have become more humane in recent years.

THE MINKE WHALE

On the 25th of December 2020 Ren Yabuki, Campaign Director of Life Investigation Agency, in collaboration with the Dolphin Project, documented a minke whale which had become trapped in Taiji’s fishing nets. The offshore nets owned by the Taiji Fisheries Cooperative are in place year-round just outside the Taiji harbour adjacent to the infamous Cove.

Several different species of fish and shark were caught within the same nets, on the 29th of November 2020 a humpback whale got caught in the nets it was released on the 30th of November.

The minke whale was seen, via drone footage, repeatedly charging the net, with deep diving, likely in attempts to escape. Despite numerous appeals the Taiji Fisheries Cooperative refused to release the whale.

On the 11th of January, the world watched in horror the video of the deliberate killing of the mammal. Eighteen days after the juvenile animal became trapped, fishermen tied a rope around its tail and secured it to their vessel in a way that forcibly kept the the whale’s head underwater. The mammal was seen fighting in panic for at least 20 minutes before drowning. The act was clearly inhumane and cruel and was defined by many as “sadistic”.

WAPFSA STATEMENT

The undersigned members of WAPFSA hereby voice their disappointment that the Taiji Fisheries Cooperative refused to release the minke whale. We hereby collectively add our voices from South Africa to join the many other organisations who have already appealed to the Japanese authorities to change their policies.

If the Japanese government maintains that the methods of killing have become more humane in recent years, why, then, has nothing been done to prevent, nor to respond to such callous incident?

We are deeply saddened and angry that the minke whale was not released and was, instead, forced to suffer and die in this inhumane fashion. We appeal to the Japanese government to urgently review their methods of set net fishing, as well as their bycatch quota and non-target species release policies.

Yours Sincerely,

Megan Carr Founder Rhinos in Africa and Prathna Singh Sea Shepherd South Africa On behalf of WAPFSA

WAPFSA CO-ORDINATOR
Stefania Falcon stefania@emsfoundation.org.za

Supporting Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa Members:

Wynter Worsthorne Founder Animal Talk Africa

Sairusha Govindsamy Founder Africa Climate Alliance

Jenni Trethowan Founder Baboon Matters

Smaragda Louw Director Ban Animal Trading South Africa

Lorraine Holloway Director Baboons of the South

Toni Brockhoven Chairperson Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa

Samantha Dewhirst Director Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education

Michele Pickover Director The EMS Foundation

Stephen Fritz Chief South Peninsula Khoi Council

Fiona Miles Director Four Paws South Africa

Stefania Falcon Founder Future 4 Wildlife South Africa

Jabu Myeni Founder Gifted for Good

Linda Tucker CEO Founder Global White Lion Protection Trust

Les Mitchell Director Institute for Critical Animal Studies (Africa)

Steve Smit Co-Founder Monkey Helpline

Kim Da Ribeira Director OSCAP-Outraged SAfrican Citizens Against Poaching

Vivien Law Parliament for the People

Lex Abnett Director Southern African Fight for Rhinos

Dave Du Toit Founder Vervet Monkey Foundation

Sera Farista Youth Climate Group

Guy Jennings Director WildAid Southern Africa

IMAGE CREDIT: Ren Yabuki/Life Investigation Agency

© 2021 WAPFSA. All rights reserved