WDCS Action Alert - Help us stop Russia's hunt of over 1,500 belugas!

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cathyw

WDCS Action Alert - Help us stop Russia's hunt of over

1,500 belugas!

Reply-to: cathyw

 

WDCS Action Alert: Help us stop Russia's hunt of over

1,500 belugas!

 

The Russian government has recently published its 2002

capture quotas for marine mammals in Russian waters.

'Decree 1551' targets over 1,500 cetaceans. These

animals are not meant to be exploited commercially -

the quotas are supposed to provide subsistence to

indigenous groups in the Russian North and Far East

where few other food sources exist. But the

Decree also allows for 'scientific,

cultural and educational use' of the whales - and

this means captivity.

 

Russia is a significant exporter of marine mammals for

public display facilities all over the world to

meet the rampant demands of the international

captivity industry. We do not know how many belugas

are intended to be captured alive for captivity this

year, but we do know that at least five orcas may be

taken. The quotas are as follows:

 

Belugas:

Western Bering Sea - 300

Nothern Okhostk Sea - 400

Western Kamchatskaya - 100

Eastern Sakhalinskaya - 200

Barents Sea - 500

White Sea - 50

 

Orcas:

Sakhalinskaya - 5

 

 

WDCS is deeply concerned that these quotas are

unsustainable. In particular the quota of 50 whales

from the White Sea, where the beluga population was

recently estimated to be no more than 1,000 animals,

is totally unacceptable.

 

It is well accepted that belugas are threatened across

their Arctic range by oil and gas development,

over-hunting, over-fishing, vessel traffic,

industrial development and pollution. Many

populations were almost wiped out historical over

hunting by Russia and we fear that these

proposed hunts will set the belugas back dramatically.

 

In 1999, the Scientific Committee of the nternational

Whaling Commission - IWC (the world's leading

scientific body on whales) concluded that only four

out of 29 beluga populations are 'stable'. It

regularly asks for information on beluga status from

range states, but Russia has consistently failed to

provide the data requested, including information on

the contaminant loads of the belugas to be consumed.

 

In 1999, as a consequence of international protests

against Russia's quota that year of 2,100 belugas,

and its export of 13 tonnes of beluga meat to Japan,

the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia ordered an end to

that year's hunt and exports. He justified the

order on the grounds of uncertainty about the size

of beluga populations and, therefore, the

sustainability of the hunt. However, although a zero

quota was set in 2000, the beluga quota was set at

1,900 in 2001. WDCS protested to the Russian

government about this excessive quota, but our

protests

were not even acknowledged.

 

WDCS is deeply concerned about the proposed kills

and live captures of belugas in 2002. We have

written again in protest to the relevant Russian

authorities and will raise this issue at the

forthcoming IWC meeting in May. We implore you

therefore to express your concerns to the

Russian Government about these proposed hunts.

 

White sea belugas

 

WDCS is particularly concerned about proposed

removal of 50 belugas from a population of only 1,000

in the White Sea, which we believe will include

several

removals for captivity.

 

A removal of 5% of the population is clearly not

sustainable and will have dire consequences for the

future survival of this population. It will also harm

a land-based (and therefore non-intrusive) beluga

watching operation on the Russian coast, which brings

growing benefit to the region.

 

How you can help.

 

Please write a polite letter, fax or email to the

Russian President, copied to his officials, urging the

Russian government to do as it did in 1999 and cancel

the beluga quota on the grounds that there is

insufficient evidence that it will be sustainable.

Urge him strongly not to permit the live capture of

belugas or orcas for the captivity industry.

 

President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin

Moscow

Russian Federation

president

http://www.gov.ru

 

Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov

Chairman of the Government of Russian

Federation (Prime Minister)

Krasnopresnenskaja naberezhnaja 2

103274 Moscow Russia

fax: +7-095-206-07-66

 

Vladimir Alexeevich Grachev

The Chief of the Environmental Committee of the State

Duma

State Duma

Okhotny Ryad 1

103009 Moscow Russia

fax: +7-095-292-6023

e-mail: gva

 

Vitaly G. Artyukhov

Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian

Federation

You can send an email at the following website:

http://ministr.mnr.gov.ru/index_e.php?2+2

 

 

 

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